Finding You
by maalani
Summary: I felt the chill of his breath along my neck and closed my eyes. No, this was not the way I imagined I would die. I decided in that moment, I would not be afraid. I would face him head on. Two could play at that game. He must have felt the change in my resolve because he pulled back. Our eyes met and then our lips. He was not the one who would claim a prize tonight.
1. Preface

**Preface**

I never was one to believe in the old myths of the city where I was born, but here I was standing in the middle of one of my grandfather's stories whether I wanted to be or not. My heart pounded, and I knew they could hear every painful beat, my breath held in non-existence as he took my hand and held me, his teeth mere inches from my throat. How bad could it really be? Once it was done, once it was over, I would feel no more. My world would go dark, and that would be the end. Death seemed easy as it held me in its grasp.

I felt the chill of his breath along my neck and closed my eyes. No, this was not the way I imagined I would die. I decided in that moment, I would not be afraid. I would face him head on. Two could play at that game.

He must have felt the change in my resolve because he pulled back. Our eyes met and then our lips. He was not the one who would claim a prize tonight.


	2. Strange Encounters

It was strange being back in a place I had not visited since I was seven years old, but my grandmother was here, and I was attending my grandfather's funeral with her. One might think that I would have more feelings of grief, but I barely knew the man. My parents moved us suddenly one day, and they never looked back. I knew there had been issues with my grandfather in the past, but he was a historian and a politician. He had been the mayor of Volterra for the past 16 years, and from what I took in from the people around me, a very loved one as well.

I helped my grandmother to the front of the gravesite where we found our seats before the service began. It was not a short service by any means. Many people, including government officials from neighboring towns stood up to speak their respects. By the time it was over, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, and I had to help my grandmother see her way to the car.

When we reached it, a young man appeared and casually opened the door for us. I had not seen him at the service, but for some reason, he looked vaguely familiar. An amazingly beautiful woman walked up to him as I thanked him and helped my grandmother into the passenger seat.

"I am very sorry for your loss, Piero was an excellent man to work with," she said to my grandmother before turning to me. "You must be Liliana, Piero's granddaughter. He spoke of you often."

I smiled politely. "Did he? Unfortunately I did not get to spend as much time around him as I would have liked."

"Some of his effects are still at the Palazzo if you would like to come by and pick them up when you have a chance. There's no rush."

"Thank you. I can be by tomorrow morning. Who should I ask for?"

"My name is Chelsea. The secretary up front on the ground floor can contact me when you arrive." I saw the male she stood next to narrow his eyes, and she placed a hand on his arm. "Shall we, Demetri? It is getting quite late," then to me, "I will see you tomorrow."

"Yes, of course."

Almost immediately, they disappeared somewhere into the crowd of cars, and though I searched quickly, my eyes could not find them. There were quite a few people who came out. I walked to the driver's side and got in before taking off and heading back into town to my grandmother's house. I would stay with her for now, but even her health was not that great.

After the sudden loss of my grandfather, I was told by the neighbors who checked on her that my grandmother had stopped eating and barely left the house. She often muttered silly things that were not comprehensible, and as horrible as it made me feel, I knew she would not last much longer. Part of me felt a sense of relief. I could not bear to watch someone sit around all day and suffer, dying a little more every second and every hour that passed.

I resigned myself to focus more on what I would do when I was free to leave, not that I was not free to leave, but it would be the wrong thing to do. Besides, she was my grandmother, and I was the only family she had. My parents were ill advised for me coming here at all, but I made the choice. Someone had to stay with her and help her out.

I also had another, more selfish reason. I missed Italy. This was my home, and although I had dual citizenship and could visit anytime I wished, I never had the chance after we moved. My parents refused to travel back, so my grandparents visited us much to my parents' dislike. Being back in Volterra after so many years brought up many memories, good and bad.

More than anything, I missed the culture and sense of community. Everyone knew everyone here, or so it seemed, and everyone was welcomed. It was a large tourist attraction in season, rich in Etruscan history and supernatural myth which the locals often used to their advantage to sell souvenirs. It was all baloney of course, but some of them, including my grandfather, believed it to be 100% true.

Some of his stories gave me nightmares at night, and I often wonder if that's why we left. My father and grandfather would often argue over what he should and should not say to me and the old make believe stories were at the top of the list. But I did not care. I loved them anyway.

I got my grandmother to bed and turned out the light before going into the kitchen and making a list of things that I would need to buy at the market this weekend. The house was not stocked at all, but it was not too much of a surprise. Tomorrow I would head to the commune as well to check in on my grandfather's things. The sooner the better on that one. Something felt uneasy about those two from earlier.

I finally grabbed a book before sitting in the lounger and opening it to read. When I glanced up again, it was morning.

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 **A/N: I know there's not a lot of action going on yet, but don't forget to review.**


	3. Unexpected Surprises

Enjoy!

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Grandma was still asleep when I finally realized the hour, so I decided to get a couple hours of sleep myself before getting up and preparing breakfast for the both of us. I really would have to pick up quite a bit when I went to the market. There was some fruit left that oddly enough was still edible. A neighbor must have brought it right before I arrived.

After setting out the plates, I walked to my grandmother's bedroom where she had only gotten dressed. "Sorry, Nonna. Did I wake you?"

I helped her into the kitchen where we sat and began to eat. "You're going to meet that kind lady today, are you?"

"Yes, Nonna. She wanted me to come by to pick up a few things. I shouldn't be gone long, but Signora Bellini will be by later to check in on you. You remember her from the clinic, don't you?"

"Oh, yes. Such a nice woman."

"That's right, Nonna. She'll be looking after you while I'm away. Signorina Schiavone moved to Florence last week with her new husband, so she won't be seeing you any longer."

My grandmother looked at me for a moment in confusion before remembering. "Paulo. Yes, I remember him. She brought him by. Such a sweet boy."

Once we finished eating, I cleaned the table and helped set my grandmother up in the front room where she found contentment reading an old newspaper, for some reason, a favorite past time. I then went back down the hall and changed into some different clothes before brushing my teeth and going through the motions of preparing myself for the day. When I re-entered the front room, grandma had already closed her eyes.

I gently kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later, Nonna." She murmured agreement, and I left the house.

Instead of driving given Volterra's very narrow roads, I grabbed my cousin's old bike that she left when she went away to school and rode towards the city center. This form of transportation did not take as long as traffic was already slow from drivers coming into and leaving for work. When I did get to the commune, I parked the bike on the side and locked it up before entering the main door in the center of the piazza.

The Palazzo Dei Priori had been the city hall of Volterra for centuries. I remembered it from when I was a child. My grandfather often brought me by, but I was told I could never go wandering off. He did not want anything bad to happen to me if I would get lost. I told him I was a big girl and could find my way back. I was quite a curious child and wanted to explore, but I promised him that I would never go past the main lobby to the elevators or into the second wing, of which a part was accessible only outside of his office.

I followed the directions I was given and walked down the hall into the main lobby where a woman was sitting at her desk ready to offer answers to any questions a visitor may have. This was also the site for marriage registrations and would you believe it, actual weddings. Most offices had moved over to the other building in the piazza some decades ago, but this building had always remained for the council and office of the mayor. Of course there would be a couple other government officials around to use the space.

The woman asked what I was looking for, so I told her. "Buongiorno. I'm Lia, Piero's granddaughter. I was supposed to meet Chelsea here to pick up the rest of his things from his office."

"Of course. Let me call her."

The secretary picked up the phone and spoke only for a moment, a quick page I supposed to wherever Chelsea worked. I heard the elevator doors open from down the hall and Chelsea eventually appeared in that direction.

"Thank you for coming. If you will follow me, I can walk you through what was left."

I smiled at her politely and did as I was told. Her appearance was unbelievably stunning. She could have been a model for all I knew. The thing that stood out the most was the fact that she must not get much sun. Her skin was as pale as an albino and seemed to glow in the light from the ceiling. She walked gracefully, almost like she was floating and I admired her for it. Knowing my grandfather, I was sure he had put on his charm with her on more than one occasion. The whole family knew how flirtatious he could be when he wanted, all in good humor of course. Italian men always did so in good humor and with respect. The good ones anyway.

We walked into his old office, and I immediately was flooded with memories. Not much had changed besides the bookshelves which were now mostly cleared. The desk looked exactly as it always had, trinkets, photographs and all. Even the computer had yet to be updated which was slightly depressing.

"I also have your grandfather's will. He kept it locked in his desk. It has already been filed with an attorney, and one should be contacting you soon. It looks as if Piero left you just about everything he owned."

"What?" This was immediately a shock. Why would grandfather do that? Why leave it to me? How did he know I would come? I knew about the falling out with most of the rest of the family, cousins that never appeared and my father was an only child, but why me? Should it not go to his son?

"He talked about you quite often. He said you were his joy in life."

That sounded like something grandpa would say, but the news was still stunning. What was I supposed to do with all of this? That would mean that grandma's home would be transferred to my name eventually as well. I looked over the copy of the will that Chelsea had removed. At least that was the only major thing on the list. Most other listed items were books and his savings which I would use to keep the bills paid, and I always loved his old books.

"Thank you for this, although I'm not sure yet what I plan to do with it. He left me his house. Nonna isn't in great health anyway, so he must have seen this coming. He always was insightful. I suppose I'll be on my way out then." I grabbed the last few items I needed to from his desk, and Chelsea led me back down the hall to the lobby.

"How much longer do you plan to stay in Volterra?"

"I'm not sure. I'll be with Nonna until, well, until she no longer needs me. I actually thought about staying here. I was born here. I miss it. I don't think my parents will care too much. I'll already have a place to stay, and I still know a few of the locals to find a job later on. So for some time I suppose."

"It is a lovely city," Chelsea answered. "Perhaps we'll meet again someday."

After she spoke, she continued down the hall back from whence she came. I said my goodbyes to the secretary I spoke to previous before heading back out to the piazza. The square was now full of people. As I was walking towards where I had locked up the bike, I bumped into someone. I quickly apologized before noticing his face. "Emilio."

"Lia! It's good to see you again. I thought you would be taking off after the funeral," He replied.

"Nonna will need me for a while, so I'll be around. I'm thinking of actually moving back, now that I can."

"That's good to hear. We should catch up sometime."

Emilio had been a good friend growing up, more than a good friend really. He was my protector. He proclaimed himself to be my boyfriend when I was only five years old and he was seven. He never let me out of his sights. When we moved, he was the one person besides my grandparents that I missed the most. We had stayed in contact over the years by letter and eventually by email when the internet became more available, but over time, as he went off to college, we lost contact. It had been 12 years since I had last seen him in person.

"Yes, absolutely. You should stop by sometime and say hello to Nonna."

"I'll be heading back to Siena on Monday, but perhaps the next time I am in town. We could have dinner or something."

I smiled back, excited that he was reappearing in my life. Although I had never considered him a boyfriend as he considered me his girlfriend, I definitely could picture him as that now. He had grown tall and ever so handsome. His dark hair was messy, the new look all the young men seemed to have nowadays, his big, brown eyes ever so alluring. I began to wonder if he was already dating someone.

"I would love that."

He winked. "Excellent. It's a date then."

The whole ride back to my grandmother's, I chided myself for such thoughts. We had only just begun to reacquaint. We should not push anything too soon. Besides, did I really have time for a relationship right now? Nothing else was going on in my life, so perhaps I did. At least that is what I thought.

The next morning when I went to the market, everything changed.

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 **A/N: Yep, things will be getting started in the next chapter. But for now, it's time for me to sleep. Please review!**


	4. Storyteller

**And here things begin to get interesting...**

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It was unfortunate that the sun did not want to come out today. The temperatures were chilly, and the market was not as cheerful as I had remembered. I had a couple of bags with me as I walked around looking at what was being offered before making my choices. I had run into a few people who remembered me as a child and gave their condolences for my loss. Even more vendors offered me items at no charge. Normally I would have refused their offers, but that was not the way things were done here in Volterra, so I accepted them with thanks and a smile.

It was as I was heading home, my grandma did not live far away, so I had decided to walk the distance it took to the lot, that I saw him, the man from the service who had been with Chelsea. He was leaning against a building in a narrow alleyway, and I thought it a strange place to be waiting. We made eye contact, and I smiled politely as he stepped out and walked towards me.

"It's nice to see you again, Liliana. Let me help you with one of those."

"Oh, Demetri, isn't it?" He smiled as I said the name I had overheard Chelsea spoke. " Thank you, but I'm walking back to the house. I think I can manage. I'm a lot stronger than I look. And it's just Lia," I replied.

"Lia, my apologies. I'm heading in that direction. I don't mind." He held out a hand, and I did not refuse. He easily took it from me, and we continued to walk. "Chelsea said you were planning on moving back. I imagine it must feel strange after so long."

"Actually, it feels more like I came home, but you would think that." I then asked out of curiosity, "How long had you known my grandfather?"

"For some time. He was an excellent mayor to work with. Always told such intricate stories." Demetri eyed me, and I noticed immediately.

"So he told you as well, did he? My parents always hated when he mentioned any of the legends or myths to me, but I found them fascinating. Of course, they're only stories, but he seemed to believe them."

"Perhaps then they are more than that?"

"Volterra is filled with secrets of the past, and Nonno was a historian. Honestly, now that I'm older, I think he probably exaggerated a little just because. But as a child, I had such an active imagination. I wanted to believe them. I remember looking everywhere hoping to see something that he mentioned in one of those stories. Funnily enough, I still wonder about the day before we left Italy and if that at all could have been relative."

We had reached the park and decided to sit for a moment. "What was that," Demetri inquired.

"My parents abruptly decided to leave on March 20 if that tells you anything."

"Right after St. Marcus' Day. Did they say why?"

I laughed. "This will probably sound crazy, but I was a child and wanted to believe in it for who knows what reason, but Nonno often talked about how Volterra was originally founded. He said the Etruscans built the city, but it was not without help from three Greek gods, or as they believed them to be. He said really that they were powerful, insanely alluring immortal beings. Beings that we now refer to as vampires." Demetri's eyes narrowed slightly at this. "Like I said, it's crazy. It's some legend that keeps the tourism industry going and money coming into the city. There's no such thing actually as vampires.

"But you have to realize that as a child, I didn't know that. Everything Nonno said to me was magic and fact. I remember asking him where the vampires were, and he told me, 'That's why we have St. Marcus' Day. It's to celebrate their eradication from the city and the priest who was martyred in doing so. But,' he said, 'We never know if there may still be vampires walking amongst us. They did so ever love the village they called home.' So I began to look more.

"That year, I saw something strange. Everyone was in the piazza outside the city hall, and there was this young man. I remember thinking, 'Why is he removing his shirt?' And I saw this girl running up to him, pushing him aside when she reached him, but not before I saw it. It was if his actual skin was being reflected by the sun. It was a moment only, but my eyes were drawn to it, like he was sculpted out of diamond."

Demetri scoffed lightly.

"What? I know my eyes were playing tricks on me now, but at that time, all I could think about was if he could be some sort of immortal creature like my grandfather had told me about, come to witness the procession."

"Why would this creature come to witness such an event?"

"I don't know. If you ever meet a vampire, maybe you can ask why they would be interested in that sort of thing."

"Heh. What did you do then?"

I continued. "I kept watching. The two moved into the alley between the city hall and the Praetorian Palace, and then two other men walked out towards them. I found it strange that they were wearing cloaks, but not the usual red. They were darker, different shades of grey. I saw them talking, then another female appear. I remember thinking how graceful she was. But then it looked as if they were arguing and some sort of fight was about to break out, so I got my father's attention to let him know. I think they realized that they had been spotted, and they left.

"I, of course, was too excited to go home afterwards to talk to Nonno about everything. I couldn't do it there in front of my parents, but they overheard anyway. They said that now my grandfather had me believing that those people were actually vampires or some sort of other monster, and they wouldn't stand for him causing me any nightmares. He had to stop. But my father was a little shaken after that, and the next day my bags were packed, and we were on a plane to New York."

"Did you ever have nightmares from the stories your grandfather told?"

"Only a few."

Demetri smiled again. "That is quite a marvelous tale."

"It's all true!" I said with a laugh. "So what do you do at the comune anyway?"

"You could say I work with the tourism office."

"Are you a guide?"

He shook his head. "Not me. I help in other matters."

"I see. I would really love to actually visit more of the Palazzo dei Priori at some point. Nonno always restricted me when I came to visit, but I remember people talking about the beautiful art throughout the building. He also never let me into the second wing, and he never said why. I assumed it was off limits to the public for a good reason. I know parts of the building have never been renovated, like the basement floors."

"True. No one goes down there much anymore. It's mostly used for storage. And the second wing is off limits for a good reason. All the fun stuff happens there," Demetri finished with a wink.

"Right. I know it houses the council chambers, and I have been there a couple of times with my grandfather to see a meeting and a family friend's wedding. I can imagine all the fun stuff that's gone on in there over the years."

"You may be surprised. Or perhaps not."

I bit my lip. "That's rather quizzical."

"Or open to interpretation." Standing up, he added, "I'm heading the other direction from here, but if you are ever free, stop by again and I'll show you around. I think you're old enough now to not get lost or into any trouble."

My heart skipped a beat for a moment. "Funny. Nonno used to say that to me about wandering off."

"He was an intelligent man. There's a lot about the building you and many others aren't aware of, but of course, being with the tourism division, I know everything."

"Of course. Perhaps I'll stop by soon."

"Any day except tomorrow."

"Obviously it wouldn't be open on Sunday," I replied. "What about Monday? Signora Bellini will be with my grandma again, so I'll have some free time on my hands."

"Monday is good. I'll see you then."

My eyes followed him as he walked back the direction towards the city center. I could not get over the fact that he looked so familiar, but it was impossible to place. There was no way I would have known him before. He would have still been young last time I was in Volterra. I could not believe he was much older than I. I thought about it, but still could not place it. Maybe he looked like someone else I knew back in New York. It was possible.

I grabbed the bags of food and began to make my way the last block to the house. It was not until I reached it that I realized something was seriously wrong. Signora Bellini's car was not where it was when I left, and the gate had been left open as if someone left in a rush. I ran through the gate and found the door unlocked, safe enough where we lived as the crime rates in Volterra were nonexistent, but still odd to find. When I entered, the house was empty.

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 **A/N: Oh no! Where have they gone? I guess you'll have to review to find out. Just kidding. I'll post another chapter tomorrow evening, but the reviews are still very much appreciated.**


	5. That Which Cannot be Explained

**It is way too late for me to be writing...**

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I immediately dropped the bags on the table and looked for a note of which there was none before going to the phone and ringing Signora Bellini's number. It rang for some time before she answered. "Pronto?"

"It's Lia. Is everything okay with Nonna?"

"We are at the hospital. I was in the other room for only a minute. I didn't think anything would happen."

"Wait. Is she okay?"

"I do not know. I think she was trying to go to the door, and she fell. She hit her head rather hard, so I called the ambulance. I do not understand why she would be going towards the door. I never heard anyone knock, and there was no one there when I found her. It was so quiet. I did not even hear her fall or say a word."

Taking a deep breath, I said, "It's okay. It's not your fault. I'll be there in a few minutes."

I hung up the phone trying to calm myself but at the same time knowing that I had only been waiting for something such as this to happen. It was not as if I was not already prepared for it, but if grandma hit her head, in her already not so stable condition, there was no telling what that would mean.

I had picked up nothing that required refrigeration, so I left the house, locking the door behind me and grabbed my cousin's bike once more before speeding off to the emergency room. When I arrived, I was ushered down the hall where grandma lied, her eyes closed softly, Signora Bellini sitting at her side. Grandma looked peaceful, but the worst of it all was the ventilator.

"The doctors said that they are going to run more tests, but she appears to be in a coma."

"A coma…?"I took a deep breath letting the information sink in before I went to the other side of the bed and took grandma's hand. "Nonna? Can you hear me? It's Liliana." There was no response. "You're so tired aren't you? It's okay, Nonna. Just sleep now, alright? I'll be here when you wake up."

The nurses came in soon after to take her to do the scans, and while she was away, I waited silently. I could tell Signora Bellini felt terrible over the ordeal, but I truly did mean it when I said it was not her fault. Some things were difficult to prevent. I was more grateful that she had been there when it happened rather than Nonna being at home alone and lying there the entire time until I returned. It was hard to place blame on anyone with the situation, even myself as I kept thinking it could happen any day.

Grandpa was a shock. It came so sudden. We all assumed grandma would go first given her health, so when Grandpa passed away, no one knew what to say. As for myself, although I loved him dearly for the past memories we shared, I tried so hard to be sad, but I could not. I only wished that I had the opportunity to know him more.

His death had been strange, not even an autopsy which was highly unusual given the circumstances. They had immediately ruled it death by natural causes but what was natural about an otherwise healthy man suddenly passing away in his office? I tried not to question it. There must have been a reason for it to be decided so quickly without further look.

The scans did not take quite as long as I had thought they would, and grandma was brought back in not much later. The doctor did not look well, and I asked what he saw. Grandma apparently hit her head harder than we thought and although there was no hemorrhaging, she did suffer from a severe traumatic brain injury. He said they would continue to monitor her condition but at this moment, they had seen no brain activity. He wanted to rule out any other explanation that could perhaps make the tests unreliable, but, and he made sure we were all sitting at this time, given the situation at hand, he had concluded her to be completely brain dead.

Signora Bellini immediately burst into tears upon the diagnosis. Although she was new to working with grandma at home, she had worked with grandma at the clinic, from what I understood, for many years. My mind shut down. I had been prepared, but not so sudden. Again, so sudden.

The doctor gave his apologies for the news and said that when I was ready, they would turn off the ventilator. I stood up, completely lost. Again, I felt no real grief, a feeling I judged immensely in this moment. On the other hand, I did feel utter confusion over the circumstances of these events. Signora Bellini had not heard grandma fall, and there had been no reason for her to be going to the door. Grandpa had mysteriously passed away when he had been the image of good health and no autopsy even completed. Those two things were not adding up.

I stayed there overnight contemplating what I wanted to do. They would turn off the machine soon enough, and I would be the one left with all the arrangements and the attorneys and the mystery at hand. It was too much for one person to handle. I was barely an adult the way it was, but my parents would have cared less about helping out.

At 2:53pm, they turned off the ventilator and grandma was pronounced dead. Apparently the arrangements had been made a few years ago by my grandfather. They had set everything up together for them both. I had a call from grandpa's attorney who stopped by the hospital to talk me through the will and sign off on the papers. He also talked me through the arrangements that had been made and got in touch with the funeral site director to schedule the service. Signora Bellini contacted friends of the family and submitted the obituary that had already been written by my grandfather to the news circulation.

Although I had planned to meet Demetri at the city hall on Monday, the news had gotten around to everyone, so I assumed he not be expecting me. I did not see him again until the services on Wednesday which he attended, once more with Chelsea. As at grandpa's funeral, the skies were lightly crying, grieving for me the loss I could not feel but also the loss that I had that came from not feeling the need to grieve for the grandparents I loved but never got to watch me grow up into the person I was now. To me, that was the tragedy in this.

They both spoke to me as the services ended, and I thanked them once again for coming out. Demetri's expression this time was different than the prior. He seemed almost detached. Perhaps he thought it as strange as I did, their deaths only a week or so apart.

"If you need anything," Chelsea spoke, "please let us know. You know how to find us."

I felt myself easily warming up to her, and I nodded. "Of course."

I went home to an empty house, a house that was now mine. Thankfully my grandparents did not keep much around in the ways of trinkets or furniture, so I would not have much to go through later on. Somehow, it seemed wrong. Everything about the past few days had seemed wrong. I could not figure out what could have happened and replayed scenarios over and over again in my mind.

When I finally fell asleep, the dream I had was very vivid. I recognized the setting quickly. It was March 19, 2006, and I was seven years old. I had begged my parents to take me to the festivities for St. Marcus' Day, and they agreed, stating that perhaps I was old enough to participate. Although they never believed the stories my grandfather told, the festival was still a part of Volterra's heritage.

I saw the people in the alley arguing, the two with cloaks, the two females and the male whose skin reflected like shards of glass. I watched them, and this time, I caught the face of the man in the darker of the grey cloaks. My breathing became shallow as I walked towards him until I could make out his face perfectly. My heart pounded knowing I had met him somewhere before.

Waking up in a panic was not common to me, and it took me a moment to find my surroundings again. I shook my head. "That's not possible." But I knew what I saw, and I knew I had seen that exact same face then as I had a decade later. Demetri and I had met before, and he had not aged a day. That meant there was no possible way he could be human.

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 **A/N: Please review! Sorry these are going fast, but I am trying to get myself back into writing every day and not being perfectionistic about it. Therefore, these chapters are less than perfect, and I'm going to sit with it and be okay with it. Hope you liked it anyway. Aro will be making an appearance soon. I promise.**


	6. Fated Discovery

**I have to stop writing so late...**

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I lied awake in bed thinking about the dream I had. Could it really be that all of grandfather's stories were absolutely true? All those years ago, did I actually discover the vampires whom my grandfather said lived in Volterra? As much as my adult brain told me it was only a dream, and that my mind placed Demetri's face there because he looked familiar, my heart and free thinking brain told me what I saw was a distant memory from my past that needed to be confronted.

The sun was rising, so I got up with it and prepped myself for the day. My stomach tied itself in knots as I thought about what I was planning to do. Breakfast was out of the question. I would walk there and soothe my nerves in the process. I questioned myself for what I was about to do. What were the facts?

Demetri looked familiar, very familiar when I first saw him. Chelsea and he both had such pale skin, much paler than mine, and I looked like a ghost glowing in the moonlight. Their eyes were a strange color of brown with hands icy cold to the touch. Their features were both beyond perfect and they walked as if they were walking on clouds, dignified and old. Demetri had been very interested in my grandfather's stories and questioned when I mentioned vampires in the city, almost as if he were interrogating me, but that thought had not come until later, much later.

I made it to the city center and stood in front of the Palazzo dei Priori. Chelsea was right. I knew how to find them. I stepped through the main door and made my way down the hall to the woman who I had spoken with the first time around. This time, I asked for Demetri.

"There is not a Demetri who works here. Are you sure you had the name right," the woman responded.

"He said he works in the office of tourism."

"Then he would be located at the Praetorian Palace. That office is housed there with the majority of the offices of public service, but I am unaware of a Demetri there either."

"I see. Perhaps you can send for Chelsea then? She would know how to contact him for me, I'm sure."

"Of course."

The secretary went through the motions of calling for Chelsea once more, and she appeared not long after, the same way she had the time previous. She smiled upon seeing me, and I immediately felt a warmth entering my body and smiled back. She was very kind.

"What can I do for you?"

I paused for a moment, thinking carefully. "I was hoping you would be able to tell me where I could find Demetri. He said he worked here with my grandfather with the office of tourism, but I was told it was housed across the square."

Chelsea's eyes narrowed in thought for a moment before her smiled returned and she motioned with her hand for me to follow her. "I can take you to him if you come with me. Was he expecting you?"

"No, I don't think so, but I do need to ask him about something important."

"About your grandfather? Perhaps I could answer it for you?"

"Not about Nonno. It's about something I saw some time ago."

"I see." She led me to the elevator where she pressed the button for the door to open and stepped in. "He's upstairs."

Nodding, I replied, "I've only been up there a few times for a wedding and once when Nonno had a meeting with the city council and he wanted me to see it. I think I was six when it happened."

"You were quite young," Chelsea added.

My mind caught on to it. How did she mean that? Was it in agreement stating that six was very young to attend a council meeting or that she remembered me being very young at the time. My shoulders tensed, and my heart pounded, but at the same time, Chelsea was acting so friendly. Why it was as if I had known her for longer than I had. Strange, that feeling.

Stepping out of the elevator, we walked through another door, the door that led opposite the council chambers into an adjunct room. Within that room, Chelsea moved a panel from the wall where I saw another door. She opened it, and we stepped into another hall. The walk was short, and when we reached the end, we were in another lobby. It was full of color, a green carpet, lounge seating and a few vases of flowers on end tables. It was a reception area of sorts. That was when I saw the desk with the woman behind it who smiled politely at Chelsea and then at me. Her eyes were green and she appeared very normal, not like Chelsea or Demetri at all.

We past through another set of doors, and on the other side, another room awaited. At the far end, straight across from where we stood, there was a huge golden double door that glittered in the lights. I wondered what was behind it, and why grandpa had never shown me something so beautiful. But this was the second wing. This was where all the secrets were kept, or so I had grown up to believe.

Chelsea walked me up to the doors and with a swift knock, the door opened, and on the other side, stood Demetri his hand on the handle and to his right, a large giant that caused my eyes to widen at his form. I did not even notice the man sitting at a desk with a leather bound book and a feathered quill until he spoke.

"Chelsea, you bring me a rare gift. Thank you," the man said dismissing her. His voice was warm and inviting, hypnotizing.

I spared a look at Demetri who showed almost no expression at all besides a slight smirk of curiosity. He nodded his head toward me, and I accepted the quick acknowledgement before turning back to the stranger who was in front of me. If I had any doubt whether Demetri and Chelsea were vampires, that doubt was all but gone now.

The man I saw was no more than 25 with slick, black hair, and skin near translucent. I wondered if I touched it, if it would peel right off. But that was not the worst of what I was seeing. I looked back at Demetri quickly then at the giant and back to the one in center. The three of them had bright, blood red eyes.

"Welcome Liliana to my home," the man in the middle spoke, the one who I realized held the power in the room. "There is no need to explain what you see. You already know, do you not?" He began to walk towards me, and I took a step back.

"Who are you?"

His smile was sickeningly sweet as he replied in almost the same manner, "My name is Aro."

Aro moved so fast, that my mind did not register when he took my hand. My eyes widened at the suddenness of it, and my breathing stopped as my heart pounded so hard, I thought it would fly right out of my chest. "How did you-?"

"You know the answer, my dear Lia. You always have since you were a child," Aro answered. "Your grandfather filled your head with stories of our kind since the time you were born. You remember Demetri from years ago." He looked up at the mentioned.

"She appears to be the child from that day," Demetri said. "She saw his skin."

"As it would seem."

"Then it was you," I interjected, chancing a glance back at him.

"Now your question has been answered," Aro spoke again. "Unfortunately, your grandfather made this all inevitable."

"What do you mean?"

"You know the truth, and therefore are a liability to our kind. However, these dreams of yours, how do they work?"

"Dreams?"

"Yes, your dreams such as the one last night."

I shook my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Last night was only a memory that appeared in that form."

"Or was it?"

Aro took a moment to release my hand and then slowly circle around me as I stood there completely tense, waiting for something to happen. I did not think this part through. Did I honestly expect them to take the news that I knew with ease? They would just let me go after confronting them about it? How stupid could I be? This was not some fairy tale or fantasy world. This was real, as real as real could be. Vampires existed, and my kind were the prey.

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 **A/N: Yay! Aro appeared finally. Please review! Heading to bed now. Good night!**


	7. How It All Began

**It has been a really long day, so this chapter moves a little quickly due to my tired eyes. I still hope you enjoy it.**

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When Aro stopped, he stopped behind me, and I stood frozen in place, my breathing barely present. At that moment, I saw Demetri and the giant turn and leave the room, Demetri with a long glance at me before he was out of my line of sight, and I heard the door close. I did not dare look behind me at the man, no, creature, who could move faster than I ever thought possible.

It was silent besides the beating of my heart, and that was when I felt a cool breath along the back of my neck, and then hands, as frozen as ice, touch my upper arms, holding me still before Aro pulled me into his chest. "You are remarkable, my dear. Truly you are."

Quietly I replied, "What do you mean?"

"One day, you will know."

He released me then, and I slowly turned to face him. "One day?"

"You thought I would kill you? What a waste that would be." I stepped back as I took him in. "I have been waiting for you to return for some time. You recognized Demetri, but you have yet to recognize me. I must say that I am hurt to be forgotten." But there was a sly smile on his face.

"I've never seen you before."

"Think, Liliana, back to a time when you were young. You ran away from your father and found the secret passage outside your grandfather's office, the door he said to never enter. You walked through these halls and discovered the stairs to the lower levels where you ran into Marcus, and he brought you to me."

"Marcus? As in-"

Aro's grin grew wider if that were possible. "Yes."

I took a deep breath, letting that play out in my head. So Saint Marcus had been a vampire all along. My mind stood shocked with the new revealing plot, so I shut it down and continued to think back, long and hard, attempting to recall ever seeing these two before.

"Try to remember that day," Aro encouraged. "It is in there somewhere."

It was a quick flash in front of my eyes, and it clicked. "I was four."

He nodded. "And now you are grown and have returned under such tragic circumstances I am afraid."

My mind took a pause before my fear and confusion turned into anger, and I asked very carefully, "What happened to my grandparents?"

"Lia, your grandmother was very ill, and your grandfather died from natural causes. I am sure you are aware of that."

"My grandfather was a perfectly healthy man, and my grandmother suffered a traumatic brain injury rendering her brain dead from a mysterious, soundless fall. My grandfather never had an autopsy, and don't you think that strange given the circumstances?"

Aro walked past me to the table he had been at previously and closed the book he had been reading from. "You are dealing in matters that would be best left alone."

My heart raced and my adrenaline spiked as I moved towards the table and stopped at its edge. "What did you do?"

"You assume I had something to do with their untimely deaths?"

"I know you did. I can feel it."

"But where is your proof?"

"I don't need proof."

Aro reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear before replying, "No, you, most of all, do not, but I did not murder your grandparents."

"Maybe not you," I answered, "but you know who did." I took hold of his hand that had been playing with the bottom strands of my hair and moved it aside. "What do you want with me?"

His eyes narrowed as my hand touched his and forced it away. "With you? My dear, it is what I want from you, and what I have wanted from you since you first wandered into my arms. I did not want to deliver you back to your grandfather, but what else could I do. You were so young, too young by our laws."

"Your laws?"

"Yes, laws I have laid out for my kind to allow us to live amongst humans without detection."

"You created these laws?"

He smiled again. "Quite some time ago. My coven is one of the oldest and most revered in my world. Unlike the ones who ruled before us, we prefer a more civilized state of being, allowing the supernatural to become myth."

"And now that I know? Now that I'm here? You've waited for me for fifteen years?"

"It was worth the wait."

My voice was barely above a whisper, and I watched his eyes anxiously. "What was?"

"Perhaps it is too soon to say. Liliana, you have blossomed into a lovely flower. I look forward to our time together. Demetri will take you to where you shall stay."

"Wait. What do you mean stay?"

The doors opened behind me, and Demetri appeared waiting. He and Aro exchanged a look, and then Demetri spoke, "This will be your new home. You had wanted to stay in Volterra instead of returning, is that not right?"

"At my grandparent's house, not here," I said with a little more force than I had meant to.

"That will all be taken care of, Lia," Aro spoke from behind. "Piero left it in your name, as he made me aware, but I still own the majority of the city and arrangements can be made so it is no longer of your concern."

"You can't just keep me here."

"My dear, I can do with you whatever I want," he paused a moment as the information sank in. "You will understand soon enough. I only ask that you do as you are bid. When the time is right, I will explain everything. However, you gained your grandfather's insight. I will leave you now to ponder it. Perhaps you will remember on your own. It will not be the first time you heard what I will wait to tell."

Aro passed me as he left the room and quickly disappeared from sight as if he had vanished into thin air. Demetri stared at me as I tried to calm my mind on what had just happened. What was he saying? I already knew what he wanted from me? This all began when I was only four years old?

"Shall we take leave?"

I looked up at Demetri as he leaned against the doorframe his eyes showing only the slightest disinterest. "I can't go home?"

"No. This is home now."

"And if I just walk out?"

His smirk made my heart skip. "You could try. It might be fun."

I shivered at his response, and said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why don't you find out? I'll even give you a head start."

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 **A/N: Don't forget to review! I know there was a bit of jumping around in this chapter which I questioned while re-reading, but then I realized, that's just who Lia is. More of this will be revealed later, promise.**


	8. How We Disappear

**I apologize for the three day no post period. I had a lot going on this weekend like meeting with a playwright and talking about my play, lots of treatment challenges and filming a monologue audition. Sometimes writers need a break, too. I hope you like this one!**

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I watched Demetri carefully after he replied to see if he was being serious or simply sarcastic. My heart continued to race, and I wondered if he could hear it. I took a step forward, and he did not move, his eyes continuously watching what I had planned to do next. "How much of a head start?"

His smirk widened if it could. "How much do you think you need?"

"Everyone will wonder where I left to. What do you plan on telling them when people begin to ask questions?"

"We've been working on hiding our existence for centuries now. We'll come up with something. Perhaps you decided to go home after all. Two deaths so quickly, one right after the other. Perhaps you couldn't handle the distress, so you decided to sell the house and leave without telling anyone goodbye because goodbyes are difficult. After all, you've already had to do it too many times."

Feeling my heart skip a beat while he answered as if reading off of a script, I stopped him. "What about Emilio?"

He frowned in curiosity. "Who is Emilio?"

"A friend."

"He can be taken care of."

Forgetting who or what I was speaking to, I took a determined step to stop right in front of him, my voice holding more threat than I would ever be capable of against any one of them. "If you touch him-"

"You'll do what?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing in response. I turned and walked out of the library and down the hall the way I had come in with Chelsea. "It's not safe to walk around here alone," but I noticed him still leaning against the door frame not even trying to catch up to me.

"I'll take my chances."

I made it to the secret door and eventually to the elevator, the woman who had sat at the desk in the other lobby looking at me intensely as I passed by. I ignored her. The elevator was slower than I remembered, and I stepped out, making my way to the main door. However, before I had a chance of opening it, Demetri met me there with a smile, the hood of his cloak pulled up over his head.

"I gave you your head start."

"Get out of my way." I tried pushing him out of frustration, knowing deep down that it was pointless. All I did was meet a brick wall.

He took my forearms in his hands and pushed us both further inside the hall. "Let's not make a scene."

"Then let me go."

"I can't do that."

My eyes were burning at this point with tears I would not shed, but I failed. One slipped, and he reached up to wipe it away. I took that moment to release my other arm from his grasp and crossed them, wrapping them around myself. "What does he want from me?"

"Honestly, I don't know. All I know is that he wanted you here. My guess is as good as yours. I don't question the orders I'm given. I only follow them."

"Maybe you should start questioning them. He doesn't have to own you. He definitely doesn't own me. I want some answers. If you're going to keep me here against my will, then I think I deserve at least that."

"You're asking the wrong person."

The door opened behind Demetri and a male walked into the building, his eyes looking over at us for a moment. He smiled at me, recognizing me immediately and walked over. Demetri's eyes sent a warning glance in my direction before he stepped back.

"Lia, I am terribly sorry for all that has occurred these past couple of weeks. Are you doing alright? You look upset."

I pinpointed how I knew him and realized that he had also worked with my grandfather on the board. He had been friends with my parents when we still lived in Volterra. I quickly nodded, watching Demetri from the corner of my eye. "Yes, I am alright. It's been difficult." I spared a look over at Demetri for a moment, and the man followed my line of sight. "I thought I might take a holiday, a vacation for a couple of months. This is a friend," I said the word loosely, "He was helping me out on where to go."

Demetri seemed pleased with my response, and he smiled politely to the man, a facade if I ever knew one. It was radiating off of him that he wanted to tear the man's throat out. I could see it happening in my mind's eye and stiffened. "Yes. We have much more to discuss including what should be done with what she was left while she is away. I believe she was planning on selling it back to the city."

The aching in my heart was there again. I grew up in that house. "Maybe. I haven't decided." I said it firmly meaning it was not open to discussion at this time. Was that what Aro had planned?

"We should be continuing on if you wish to leave as soon as possible."

So that is how they were planning on doing it. I would just fly off, and it would happen tonight. The runaway granddaughter that could not deal or cope with the pain of her loss and the stress of what it brought. Seeing the picture I had even more clearly in my mind of Demetri and the man, I agreed quietly and nodded. "Yes, we should."

I stepped up to Demetri and took his arm in mine before walking past the man who now had a bewildered expression upon his face and continued to the elevator. Demetri kindly followed along until the doors had opened and we had stepped inside. The first thing he did was roughly remove his arm from mine and brush off the sleeve of his cloak, straightening it out while removing the hood.

"Never do that again."

"If you hadn't been planning on killing him, I wouldn't have had to."

"That man has never been more safe. He's a citizen of Volterra which makes him off limits to us."

"But I saw…" I cut myself short, not wanting to repeat it.

"You saw what?"

"Nothing." We stayed silent a moment, Demetri with his own pondering mind working quickly. I watched the elevator as it went down to the lower levels, and it dawned on me that this must be where they reside considering no one was ever allowed down there due to the fact it was dangerous and not up to code. "Where are we going?"

"Aro asked me to take you to where you'll be staying. It's down here."

The doors opened and we stepped out into a long stone corridor that was lit by torches. "This is really anti-climatic."

I caught the wisp of a smile on his lips as he replied, "What were you expecting?"

"Not this."

We continued to walk a little further and eventually stopped outside a wooden door. "Perhaps this will be more what you imagined."

I looked up at him as he tilted his head toward me, giving me permission to open it. I hesitated. "What's on the other side?"

"A room I suspect."

Taking a deep breath, I place my hand on the handle and pushed.

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 **A/N: Don't forget to review! If you have yet to check out my others stories, All of You and No Prayer for the Lost, please do! I will be updating them both again soon. Thank you all for your support. You're incredible! 3**


	9. What Everyone Knew Except You

**For those reading _All of You_ , part 2 has officially begun, and if you have yet to check it out, please do so. You can find the link on my profile. Enjoy the new chapter. I made it a little longer since I missed posting yesterday. Okay, so it's only 200 words longer than my longest previously, but that's still 200 words. :)**

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The lamps caught my attention immediately. They were each lit around the room giving the space a soft, warm glow. However, my eyes were not on them for long. It took in the other aspects as well, a sofa near a high bookcase, an old antique desk laden with scrolls and books, a large rug covering half the stone floor. I cautiously stepped inside.

"Is this better," Demetri asked.

"Define what you mean by better," I replied before turning back to him. "Who does this room belong to? It looks as if it is currently being used."

"I think my definition of better would be to leave it as a surprise." He grinned.

"That's definitely not mine."

"You will remain in here for now. You are free to help yourself to any of the books you see on the shelves, but do not leave this room. I imagine you'll be joined soon."

Once he left, I sighed, a long breath that I had been holding. This was not too bad, right? At least not right now. Whoever owned this room kept it nice and orderly. They had refined tastes. Even in the dim lighting, the rug sparkled with flecks of gold and the large tapestry on the wall hung elegantly draped. The paintings were of landscapes I had never seen before, waterfalls and mountains and rolling plains. Although different, they tied together.

Walking over to the desk, I began to look at what it contained. The one thing I noted was the open book that could pass for a leather-bound journal. The writing was incomprehensible, a language I had not studied. The books were topics in psychology, the most notable being parapsychology which was also opened to the side. I stared at it for a moment with curiosity. Who would be studying such a thing?

I heard the door open and looked up, and in some way, already expecting who I saw. Aro glided into the room, there was no other word to describe it, and made his way over to me. "Did you see something that interested you?"

"I should have known these were yours."

"I apologize for the wait. It would seem Demetri had much to say about you."

"Is that so? I feel like he just left."

Aro grinned. "One can say so much in so little time by only a facial expression. Did you know that?"

I nodded. "I do now."

"Is there anything you would like? After all, it would be ideal if you could be comfortable here."

I moved away from him and walked towards the sofa before sitting down. As casual as this all felt, as calm I was forcing myself to be, the whole situation unnerved me. Vampires were real. I was in the room with one, perhaps one of the most powerful if what he had told me previously was true. Here he was acting as if we were old friends all of a sudden, and I had a million questions about why.

"So you decided to keep me close to you? You don't trust me?"

"My dear, if I did not trust you, there are many other places I could have you stay. This seemed to be the least appalling of the options. However, if you would prefer to stay in a cell, that arrangement can be made."

My heart stopped. "I'm good."

"As I thought. Come," Aro said continuing, "I will show you around my quarters. It is not all so dark."

I stood and slowly walked back to him before he turned to the right. I saw another door that I had missed before, and he opened it and stepped in. I followed him into a bedroom where a large four poster bed was placed against the wall at the center of the room. Two seconds later, a bright light had turned on, and I squinted at the suddenness of it.

"I apologize for that. Your eyes are not like mine. I forget. I did have this recently installed however to connect the electricity from upstairs to down here. I thought it would be preferable to the lamps in your case."

Everything paused. "In my case?" I turned to look Aro directly in his crimson eyes, and this time, they did not shock me. They were fitting. "You've been planning this?"

"Lia, I did mention that I had waited some time. I always expected you to return to me."

"What is that even supposed to mean? You expected me to return to you? I was never yours to begin with."

"How wrong you are, my lovely one."

"Don't call me that."

Aro sighed before reaching out and touching my face, tracing it with his cold finger. "You will submit to me one of these days. I do not need your gift to see that. I am very patient, and I am willing to wait for you to do so."

"You're crazy," I spoke softly in response, but all he did was smile.

"Some have called me that, but no, I believe the more appropriate term would be passionate. I know what I want, but can you honestly say the same?"

I turned away from him and re-organized my thoughts. It was as if a fog clouded my brain when he touched me, and it was a feeling I was not at all comfortable with. I took in the bed again before asking, "So where do I sleep?"

"On the bed, of course," Aro replied as if it had been the most obvious answer.

"And where do you sleep?"

He let out a light chuckle. "My dear, I do not sleep."

"Then why do you have a bed?"

"Beds are used for much more entertaining endeavors than sleep." My heart pounded and I regretted asking, but his quiet laugh only increased. "Liliana, you are so credulous. The bed was brought in recently as well. A gift from your grandfather before he passed."

My eyes widened. "My grandfather gave this to you? Wait," I paused for a moment thinking carefully about what I was about to ask. "Did he know?"

"What I am? We had met once, when I had found you many years ago. But yes, Lia, he was well aware of vampires living underneath the city. He was aware as well that Chelsea was one of us. He worked most directly with her. He also knew about the gift you have, and what that would mean to me. More than that, he knew I would request to meet with you formally when you were older. All of it was planned. Everything."

"I don't believe you."

"Your grandfather told you many stories about vampires over the years when you were still a child, the history of this city. He did that so you would come to accept it more easily when the time came. None of us expected your parents to move you so quickly after the incident. Demetri had assumed the child was you, but none of us were sure. To be honest, at the time, it did not matter, so we let it go.

"Piero knew that one of these days, his term as mayor of this city would be up. He also knew the consequences of what that would mean. Humans can not know of our existence."

I took in a breath before replying, my eyes burning. "He knew you would kill him."

"He knew he would have to die, yes. It was quick and painless. He made sure that you were left everything in his will. That would force you to come to Volterra to deal with all of it. His only request was that you would not be harmed, and Demetri, before the deed occurred, gave him our word."

"Demetri?"

"As I said, your grandfather expected all of it. It did not come as a surprise. He knew exactly what I wanted from you, and the price we would all pay to get it."

I blinked back tears that threatened to fall. "My grandma?"

Aro frowned, deep in thought. "She did not fall, Liliana. Her death was truly as quick as your grandfather's. The nurse was not meant to have found her when she did. She was asleep and felt nothing. It was only made to appear as if that is what occurred, again something to put on the coroner's record."

"Did she know?" There was no holding the tears at this time and they fell silently and freely.

"Yes, Piero had told her, and she had agreed that she could not go on without him. She was unstable the way it was. Her death would have otherwise been very painful and very hard to watch. This way was more of a blessing than a curse."

"Why didn't I know any of this? Why didn't she tell me?"

"She was told not to. Demetri's appearance at your grandfather's funeral was her sign to know that it would be ending soon. Only Chelsea need have been there. It also gave me my first sight of you in many years. I told Demetri to meet up with you, to ask you questions, to see how much you knew. I also needed to make sure you were away while it took place."

"Who did it if it wasn't Demetri?"

"Does that matter, Lia?"

I nodded. "It does to me. Was it you?"

"No, but I have already told you that. I think it best if we leave it alone, hm? You know enough information about their deaths, more than I had planned to tell."

I walked over to the bed and ran my fingers over the ivory sheets. Maybe I did not want to know. Everything he was telling me seemed impossible. Nonno knew. He knew this would happen to me one day, and he did nothing to try and stop it. He had agreed to it, even helped make the arrangements. It was too much.

"You said my grandfather knew about a gift that I have."

"Yes," Aro replied, watching my actions dutifully.

"What is that? What does that mean?"

"A special talent, if you will, that you possess, like many of us here, like myself."

"What sort of talent?"

"Your dreams, things you just know but have no reason for knowing them."

I shook my head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He made his way over to me and sat on the bed nearby where I stood. "You do, my dear, but you have placed your own mental block on them. That is why you do not recognize them for what they are. You are also human, so this gift of yours is less potent than it would be if you were like me."

"Is that what you from me? You want to make me like you?"

"That is an important and necessary step, yes, but I will not do so until you are ready."

"And what's in it for me?"

He smiled almost kindly at me before taking my hand. "Myself."

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 **A/N: Oh wow. Things are getting heated, aren't they? Don't forget to review. They make me so happy, and when I read them at the hospital, I make everyone jump from my screaming when they come in my email. It's actually fun, and they enjoy it. =D**


	10. We Are All but Delicate Creatures

**Here is a longer chapter since it's been over a week. Sorry! Lots of medical stuff going on again. :(**

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Aro's answer caused me to take another pause. Everything he said made me question even more. I ripped my hand from his and took a step back, staring hard into his eyes.

"What's so interesting about you? Should I, for some reason, feel honored that a so called very powerful vampire is interested in my gift, this gift that I'm not even so sure I have? That what? You chose me, waited fifteen years for me? That means nothing. You mean nothing to me," I took a breath as his eyes narrowed. "So when I ask what's in it for me, I'm asking you why I should be okay with this? Why I should give up my life to choose to be like you? Will you keep me trapped here forever if I refuse?"

He was silent, contemplating perhaps. I was fuming, and I didn't care that he could kill me easily. Actually, it had not even crossed my mind. Maybe if it had, I would have chosen my words more carefully, maybe been more afraid of his proposition rather than angry. I would have reacted more normally to what happened next.

He moved so fast, I once again could not keep up. His hand grabbed my wrist and held on tightly as he pulled me into him and suddenly he was on top of me, as I was pushed into the mattress on the bed. The pain in my wrist was so real, so blinding that I could not even make a sound. Aro's eyes were dark and dangerous, but still, there was no fear. I kicked out at him until his weight forced me to stop. He held me until I could no longer fight him, my breath coming out in gasps.

"You won't refuse."

"Watch me."

"There is so much that you do not know." His forehead leaned down to touch mine, and it was not until then that I froze, that the fear set in.

A strange feeling washed over me and it was as if I had already said yes. Somehow I knew, he was right. It made no sense, but at some point, I would not refuse him, at all. For some reason, in this position, it felt right, his lips so close to mine, the smell of him divinely sweet and inviting. My heart began to pound. The rightness of it all terrified me.

"You see now, my love, do you not? You are quite marvelous, everything I could ever want."

I swallowed. "Get off of me."

He slowly and immediately sat up, and I sucked in a hiss of air as the pain in my wrist turned hundredfold. I grabbed at it with my left hand as unintentional tears fell down my face. Aro sat there, a sense of hurt on his face before he reached out to look at it himself. "Let me see." I let him. "It is difficult to remember how careful I must be with you. Marcus will know what to do with this. He studied often with Carlisle when he was here."

"Who's Carlisle?" My voice was soft, ragged, but anything to keep my mind off the searing pain I was feeling.

"An old friend."

Aro reached down and picked me up gently into his arms, and before I could say anything about it, my surroundings were rushing past me in a blur. I closed my eyes already feeling sick, and leaned my head into his chest. When we stopped, we were in a bright room where I heard music coming from the other side, a mellow tune being played on a beautiful grand piano by the vampire I had once thought to be human and quite dead.

"Marcus, I need your expertise on a matter."

The melody ceased, and Aro sat me on the silver, antique white chaise close by. I held my wrist to my stomach, protecting it from anymore harm. He kneeled beside me as Marcus appeared in front and held out his hand requesting to see mine.

"It is not broken," Marcus answered, his voice heavier than I would have imagined given his young age but not his demeanor. His freezing hands, which felt extremely good over my wrist, examined it carefully. "But, you can see here, it is dislocated. It is an easy, but slightly painful repair."

"Should I send for Alec?"

"The pain will diminish quickly after, and then it will need to be iced to reduce any swelling that might arise."

"Shouldn't I be seeing an actual doctor for this," I asked, the pain starting to increase only thinking about what he was planning on doing.

"I have practiced once or twice before," Marcus replied looking back up at me. I could not tell if he was being serious or only joking.

He placed his hands in a dutiful position over my wrist before feeling it once more. I held my breath in anticipation too afraid to pull my hand back only to create more pain than was already there. Without warning, there was a pushing and twisting motion all at once, and I saw, quite literally, stars in my vision, and a scream escaped from my mouth without intention.

Aro was behind me suddenly, his hand resting on my left shoulder in what I assumed was meant to be a comforting manner. I only tensed. Marcus left his hands over my wrist and held it until my wrist nearly went numb from the cold. The pain did eventually die down as the shock my nerves received fluttered away. My breathing became more normalized, and that was when I realized Aro had been stroking my hair. My eyes felt heavy, and I wanted sleep. What time was it? My mind wandered as it often did to things other than what was happening in the present.

I was pulled back when Marcus released me and stepped away, walking back to the piano bench he had been seated on before. The melody of previous began again, and I looked up at Aro wondering if he had planned on us retreating back to his quarters now that my wrist had been taken care of.

"I believe Caterina will be able to find a splint to immobilize the wrist until it is fully healed."

I looked back over at Marcus who recited the line as if firmly ending the conversation. Who was Caterina?

"Thank you, brother. We will leave you now." Aro then turned to me. "Come, Lia. I will introduce you to the other human."

After we left the room, I asked, "There's another human here besides me? On this side?"

"Our secretary, Caterina. She is not the brightest one we have had, but she desires our way of life to a great extent. Why not see what she is capable of?"

"What do you mean by she desires your way of life?"

"I assumed that would be easy enough to understand."

"She wants to be a vampire."

"Yes."

"Is she gifted, too?"

Aro thought for a moment before responding. "They rarely are, but they do serve a purpose in the meantime."

"Why don't you just change her now then?"

"I do not see the need to do so. Her fate is quite already decided."

Whatever her fate was, it was an answer I did not want to know. By the way he answered, the tone of his voice, somehow I already knew it would not be the outcome she hoped for.

We found the stairs and climbed them slowly, Aro's hand on the small of my back to make sure I would not trip. The top of the stairs opened to a hall that I knew easily. We were outside the second lobby area, and I realized that I had already met Caterina earlier that day, or at least seen her. She looked up at our approach and stood hastily to seeing Aro's presence. She stayed very quiet, but I saw the uneasiness in the way she held herself.

"Caterina, Liliana has injured her wrist and is in need of a splint to help it heal. When you have retrieved one, have Chelsea bring it to me in my quarters." He did not wait for a response before he turned and sending me along with him at his side, began walking back the way we had came.

"You could have at least said please," I said almost feeling sorry for the woman.

"I am used to getting what I want by any means necessary. Besides, as I said before, she wants to join us. She is more than delighted to do whatever I or the others order her to do."

"She was shaking."

"Humans are very delicate creatures."

It was my turn to narrow my eyes at him. "You do know that I'm human, right?"

"And you are very delicate."

It did not take a genius to know what he was referring to. The pain had gotten stronger, and I wished that he would have asked her to get some pain medication while she was searching for a splint. Vicodin would have been amazing right now, but I would be happy with ibuprofen if it was all that was available.

Aro sighed. "We should find some ice for your wrist. Chelsea can retrieve that while she waits Caterina's return."

It was a long walk back down to his quarters, but it was a walk that I did not mind. We both went silent. He had ceased from physical contact for which I was grateful, and I continued to nurse my wrist in my other hand, touching it slightly to be aware of any inflammation that indeed may arise.

We passed the elevator I had travelled down with Demetri, and I looked at it momentarily before turning back ahead. As we neared the door to Aro's quarters, I realized there was someone standing there, a woman I recognized very well at this point, and she was holding a bag of ice in her bare hands, probably to keep it from melting, with a cloth over her arm.

"Chelsea, thank you for bringing this down. I am sure Lia will be very appreciative of it."

I stuttered for a second. "H-How did you know to bring that?"

Aro's laugh was giddy but full of precious notes that beckoned me closer to him against my will. "I have a shadow."

"A shadow?"

"Renata, why don't you say hello, my love?"

A small girl who could not have been much older if at all than I was immediately appeared beside us, and I jumped. "My apologies, Master. I know you wished to be alone, but I worry when I am not near."

Aro kissed her on her forehead before lovingly touching her cheek. "No need to fret, my love. All is well." He then gestured to me. "Renata this is Liliana. She will be joining us soon. I hope the two of you will become friends. I daresay, your duties will extend to her in time as well."

"Of course, Master." Renata turned to me and with a bow of her head said, "It is a pleasure. Please excuse me for startling you. It was not my intent."

"It's okay. You're not the only one who's done that," I said with a smile. She seemed so frail, distress written across her features, and given her height of no more than five feet, it was hard to imagine she could harm anyone.

Aro took the ice and cloth from Chelsea, and I looked back at her. Her eyes were searching the other female's intensely. I glanced back at Renata who had eyes only for Aro. In a way, it was as if I was watching a private conversation between the three of them as Aro's gaze met up with Chelsea's once more.

It was then I felt a slight touch on my shoulder, and I turned to Renata whom the finger belonged to. She had a soft expression before releasing me.

"Master, must I leave the two of you alone? It would pain me if something would occur in my absence to either of you."

"Renata," Aro answered her, "You may remain outside my quarters if you must. I would not wish you anywhere you did not want to be." He turned back to Chelsea. "Thank you, Chelsea. Caterina will be delivering an item for Lia when she returns. Would you bring it as soon as it arrives?"

With one nod of her head, Chelsea dismissed herself from Aro's presence, and Aro gently ushered me back into his quarters, Renata standing alone right outside the door.

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 **A/N: Please don't forget to review! I need some joy in my life right now, and all the reviews I receive add some brightness to my day. They are always appreciated and loved.**


	11. The Complexity of It All

I waited by the door as Aro went to the sofa and sat, patting the seat next to him, beckoning me to join him. "I am sure Caterina will return soon."

Taking a deep breath, I decided to join him. When I did, he took my wrist into his hands, very gently, and held it, the iciness of his skin, along with the bag Chelsea had given him, penetrating my own and easing the pain immensely. As uncomfortable as it was, mentally speaking, I was grateful in the moment.

"So Renata, what does she do exactly," I asked, my eyes on his hands.

"She is my personal guard if you will, a shield. As long as she is close, she is able to deflect any attack that may come my way, of course her power is stronger if there is physical contact of some sort."

"You need a bodyguard? Really?"

I meant it sarcastically, but Aro replied in all seriousness. "Being who I am, there are covens out there, one in particular, the ones who ruled before us, who wish for my demise. They prefer the old ways and despise my way of rule. Of course, there are other reasons of which they would seek to destroy me."

"What are those?"

"Unfortunately, or perhaps not, their coven had to be expunged. Only two survivors remain, and they wish for revenge."

"You murdered all of them? Why would you do that?"

Aro frowned. "Do you not remember how I told you the world used to be when vampires were well known to human-kind? It was a bloodbath quite literally for them and we were hunted down continuously only causing more loss to human life. A human could not kill a vampire, no matter what method they tried. It is easier this way, on both sides."

I nodded. I knew he was right, but I also knew there was something more sinister behind it, the power he craved and gained from his position in the vampire world. Again, I knew I should be terrified, but it never crossed my mind, none except for the fact of what I realized only some time earlier.

"Liliana, perhaps you are hungry? Should I send for someone to acquire you food?"

Biting my lip at the phrasing, I shook my head. "I'm alright. Actually, I have a lack of appetite right now. I would probably just throw it back up."

"You will need to eat at some point, my dear."

"I will, when the nausea goes down some."

Aro hummed before taking a finger from his other hand and brushing a stray strand of hair out of my eyes, but his finger did not stop there. He traced my jawline, quite lovingly, and I looked up at him, noticing his eyes which were darker than they were before but still held quite a red tint.

"Stop." I shrugged away from him and looked down at the floor.

"My apologies," he replied, but his voice was saddened.

The silence hung in the air for a long pause, and as uncomfortable as it was, there was also a sense of relief until we heard a knock at the door. I looked up at him, and he sighed, releasing my wrist and standing. In the blink of an eye, he was by the door, it opened with Chelsea standing on the other side. She handed the splint Caterina had found to Aro.

"Thank you," he said taking the package from her. "If you would, could you see to it that Lia has food prepared for later when she decides she is able to eat?"

Chelsea's eyes met mine for a split second before she replied, "Of course."

Before she could depart, I quickly said, "Chelsea, is there perhaps a way to get a few of my things?"

Her brow raised before asking, "Your things?"

Aro turned to look back at me, and I answered, "I mean, if you're going to keep me locked up here," and he moved to protest, but I continued, "then you can at least allow me to have some of my stuff."

"Lia, it is not that you are being kept locked up here. I do not wish for you to think of it as such," he said.

"Can I leave," I asked, but he of course frowned. "Then you're keeping me locked up here."

"If you really think to be locked up, I can make for those accommodations," he said with warning. He then turned to Chelsea, "But Demetri can help with this. Have him bring her a few of her things, clothes and whatever other necessities humans use. After all, the residence will need to be sorted eventually."

"And you're making that decision for me. I never said I wanted to give up my grandparents' home."

"What use will you have for it when you become one of us?"

"I never said I would do that either."

"I will give Demetri your orders," Chelsea said interrupting the quickly becoming angered disagreement. She then turned and disappeared.

Aro closed the door and walked back over to the sofa. He knelt down in front of me, and our eyes met. "Why must you dispute? We have only been together again less than a day, and you already question my authority."

"You forget that I was four years old when we met last. I have no memories of you at all except blurry ones that don't even make sense. And you're right, it's been less than a day. Actually it's been only about four hours. You can't expect me to adjust and accept everything in that period of time. That's delusional."

"Perhaps you are right. As a vampire, it would come much easier for you, but you are not one of us, not yet. When you are, you will feel it just as I feel it now."

Taking a deep breath, I sighed. "I feel it, trust me."

"Not as strongly as I do," he answered.

"No, but it is there."

"Then why fight it?"

"It's easier than believing it."

"Even when you know it to be true?"

"Sometimes being this way really sucks," I said leaning my head back against the sofa.

"Sucks, my dear?" Aro asked with confusion evident.

"Figure of speech meaning that it can be really agonizing."

"I see it as a blessing."

"I see it as a curse. I have to watch what I say so I don't frighten people. I'm the freak that no one wants to be seen with. So you'll have to excuse me when I try to deny these feelings that are mine but still not yet mine. They haven't come to pass yet. I know they will, and that's complex enough, but when you add the whole, by the way, vampires _are_ real into the mix, and oh yeah, the person you'll have these feelings for ordered the death of your grandparents, the only thing I know to do is shut down or fight. I don't want to feel this way towards you, and the fact that I know I will, only makes me fight it more. But the worst part about it is, no matter what I do, it will happen. The things I know _always_ happen."

Aro watched me a moment longer before removing the splint from the package and holding his hand out for my wrist. I sat the ice next to me on the sofa before holding out my wrist to him. He carefully slid on the splint and wrapped the sides securely.

"Is that too tight?"

I shook my head.

The room was very quiet when he stood and walked over to the desk and sat in the chair behind it, going back to reading the book he had opened.

"Let me know when you have need to eat. Perhaps it will do you some good to rest for now."

Wanting to remove myself from his presence anyway, I stood and watched him as I walked toward the bedroom door and stepped inside the room. I sighed before closing it behind me and making my way to the bed where I lied down, curling up tightly on my side. All of this was insane. All of it.

Aro had been right before about me having a special ability, however, he was also right about the mental block. I never accepted what I could do. I never wanted to. I wanted to be normal, and I tried. I tried so hard, but some things were too difficult to block. What he called a gift, a talent, was hell to me. He had said that being human made it weaker than it would be as a vampire. If that was the case, there was no way I would want him to change me. Then again, my entire body screamed against that idea. I would be like him, eventually.

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 **A/N: As always, please review!**


	12. Even Salt Looks Like Sugar

According to my watch, I had slept for five hours. When I opened my eyes, I found my carry on bag sitting next to the other door in the room, one I had only glanced over before. I sat up slowly before standing, noticing now the sway I was feeling due to the long period without eating, and made my way over to it.

I opened it up to see it led into a very spacious bathroom, all human requirements in place. I decided I would not ask Aro about this. He would probably give me the same answer as with the bed, after all, would vampires have a need to actually use the toilet? Besides that, there was a bronzed footed, clawfoot tub against the far wall, a showerhead hanging above, and an opened ivory curtain that pulled around the edge. On the other wall, a mahogany bathroom chest with marble top and a porcelain sink then a double wide mirror with an antique bronze finish above it. Completing the space was an eight light wall sconce full of reflective crystals with an Etruscan gold finish, a finish I was very familiar with due to it being created here in Volterra.

Leaving the bathroom, I grabbed my suitcase and laid it on the bed, unzipping it to see what exactly Demetri or whoever had packed for me. I found a few sets of clothes, a smaller bag full of toiletries and underneath all of that was a picture, the same picture I brought with me through every move, every trip we took. It was a picture of all of us, my mom, dad, Nonno, Nonna and me right here outside of the city hall in the square. I stared at it never noticing anyone entering the room.

"This was right after we met."

I startled at Aro's voice, my heart pounding loudly. "Don't do that."

He only grinned. "I know one thing I will miss when you finally give in."

Rolling my eyes, I sat the picture on the bed and grabbed my toiletry bag to take into the bathroom. When I returned to the bedroom, Aro held the photo in his hands.

"I very much did not want to give you back that day."

"Why did you?"

"Marcus was very convincing. What would we do with a child running around our halls? No, it was too dangerous for you, and you were too young to be changed. It was best to return you to your grandfather with the knowledge of what we had found. Your grandfather would talk of you to Chelsea constantly, my way of knowing you were well, but you never visited. Your father kept you from that."

"Do you hate him for it?"

Aro sat the photo back down and looked to me. "Should I? You are here now. That is all that matters."

I crossed my arms before saying, "I think I'm hungry now."

"I was beginning to worry about that. It's been awhile since you've eaten." Aro turned and made his way to the door back to his study. "Come, I had Caterina stock the kitchen while you were asleep."

Following him out of his quarters, I looked around for Renata whom I assumed would still be there.

Aro laughed. "She sticks to the shadows to give me as much privacy as possible. That is why I call her my shadow."

I nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, my dear."

"It's only something I noticed. You seem the type who likes to give orders, and don't deny it because we both know it's true, however, Chelsea kind of comes and goes as she pleases, and I've yet to hear you really order her to do anything. You ask. The same goes for Renata. You must care about them."

"Very much. I care for Renata as I would a daughter in many ways, and Chelsea is a good friend. We go back millennia." I paused as we walked, and he stopped and turned. "What is it?"

"How old are you?

"I believe I was changed around 25, give or take a few years. I've lost track after so long and dates were different when I was human than they are now."

"And how long has it been since you were human?"

"3300 years I suppose."

I swallowed. "Are there vampires older than you are?"

"Yes. Amun from the Egyptian Coven has been around for about 4600 years. He is probably the oldest vampire that we know of in existence along with his mate, Kebi. Does that surprise you?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet."

We continued down the corridor to the stairs we had taken previously and climbed them back up to the area where I had seen Caterina. Instead of entering the lobby, we turned down another hall and stepped into a room on the right side. It was an old fashioned style kitchen that had the benefit of modern, stainless steel appliances. The counter held an assortment of fruit, so I went over and grabbed the first one I saw, a red apple.

"There is also fresh food in the refrigerator and a few things in the cupboards," Aro mentioned.

"Okay."

Aro took a seat at the small round table as I made my way around the kitchen, fixing a sandwich while taking a bite from my apple here and there. I joined him when it was finished and took a bite. His nose wrinkled up as he watched.

"What?"

"You'll have to excuse me. Human food smells differently to us than it does to you. To me, it is as if you are trying to eat soil from the ground."

"It definitely does not taste like dirt if that's what you are insinuating."

"And you would know."

I raised a brow at him. "You said that as a statement. Did my grandfather tell Chelsea about the time I tried a mudpie with Emilio?"

"Ah, Emilio, your friend."

"Yeah. I never told-"

Aro answered too quickly, cutting me off. "Demetri."

"Oh."

Nothing more was spoken while I finished my meal, and when I was done, I made sure to clean the plate and set it out to dry. I looked back at Aro who watched me intently.

"Are you ready to go back?"

"I guess."

As we made our way back down the stairs and to his quarters, we were stopped by Demetri who told Aro that an urgent matter needed his attention. Aro sighed his disappointment. "I will return when I can. Demetri, stay with Liliana in my absence."

"Of course, Master," Demetri answered.

I watched as Aro disappeared before my eyes then looked back to Demetri. "What was this urgent matter?"

"It's none of your concern."

"It was just a question. No need to be rude." I turned and continued through the door, Demetri following, shutting the door behind him.

"I retract. It is not a matter to worry yourself over, therefore, Aro will let you know when he returns should he deem it fitting to tell."

I sighed. This was going to be more difficult than I thought. Demetri seemed to somewhat despise me, but I also despised him. I did not know if he knew that I knew that he killed my grandfather, but now being in the same room with him was torture. I had so many questions, none of which I would ask, so I said the next best thing. "Thank you for bringing me my things."

All I received in answer was a nod.

"And thank you for putting in the picture."

"It looked important."

"It is. It's the last photo I have of all of us together. My dad started to change after that, like something had spooked him. He and Nonno didn't speak much anymore. Dad became more pressing on him not telling me the stories."

"But he told you anyway."

"According to Aro, it was because they had already decided it, that this would happen eventually."

Demetri thought for a moment. "I wasn't there that time, but when you saw me, I remember your father's face. The color drained completely. I hadn't made the connection of him being your grandfather's son, or you being who you are. I had never met him before or you. But I did know something was off. Aro said not to worry over it, as long as nothing concrete was seen, and we did not think there was until today. Now I wonder if maybe your father was around back then when Aro returned you. It would only make sense that his reaction was as such."

"Perhaps."

"Lia, I know the situation isn't ideal-"

I cut him off. "Don't start apologizing for playing a large role in this."

"I'm not. You would have come here eventually. What I am trying to say is that while the situation isn't ideal, you have an opportunity most never see. You get the chance to start a new life, discover the world through different eyes, and be in a place where you're accepted for what you can do instead of pushed around and ridiculed."

"What do you know…"

"More than you think. Your grandfather was very open not only about the good things that happened, but also his worries over how you were treated. It was why he was so forthcoming when it came to you joining us one day. He warmed to the idea as the years passed, knowing exactly what you meant to the coven."

"And what do I mean to the coven, Demetri?"

"If you don't know already, you will soon."

"I won't say it."

"You don't have to."

I sat on the sofa, and gazed at the floor before looking back up at my watcher. "Demetri?"

His eyes met mine and he asked, "What is it?"

"Was it quick? Nonno. Aro said it was, but he wasn't there. You were."

"A powdered substance in the drink that put him to sleep and stopped his heart. Yes, very quick, and he was aware of what he was drinking before he did."

"Did you drink…" I could not finish the sentence as my eyes trailed to the floor, but Demetri knew where I was going with it.

"No. Piero was an honorable man. To have drained him of blood would have dishonored him. Aro was always thinking of you."

I looked back up, biting my lip. "If he was really thinking of me, he wouldn't have had you kill him."

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 **A/N: Please review! Thanks!**


	13. What is Normal

Demetri stood there by the door still as a statue. It was so quiet, and I did not know what to say. He did not seem one quick to converse either, so I sat there in silence thinking over it all. My grandfather knew everything, and my grandmother did before my grandfather was killed as well. Nonno set everything up for them, for me to be here right now. He made the transition as easy as he possibly could without giving anything away.

I thought back to fifteen years ago when I had happened upon Aro the very first time. The memory was not there really, I was too young to remember so vividly, but some part of me did. I knew now what had happened, at least I was fairly sure I did, what was said at that time to tie me to this coven, to him.

Standing up, I walked over to the desk still littered with books and antique writing utensils. Demetri's eyes followed my form in curiousity. I found the book that had been lying there before on parapsychology. It greatly interested me in more ways than one. What was it that Aro was looking for?

"You probably shouldn't mess with what is on the desk."

My eyes met Demetri's, and I replied, "It's just this book. Why would Aro be studying something like this?"

"What is it?"

"An Introduction to Parapsychology. It seems like an odd thing to want to research."

"I do not find it odd at all. It's a matter of understanding all that goes on in the world including that of gifted humans. Aro has a profound interest in such things."

Biting my lip, I opened the book slowly and found the table of contents. I glanced through them before opening the book to pages that had been marked with yellow sticky notes, Aro's own notes written neatly in once again, a language I did not understand. The first page I opened to immediately spoke about extrasensory perception. I had heard of ESP before, all humans have the ability to some extent.

I drew my finger down the page quickly reading discovering terms such as telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, precognition, and retrocognition, then further down from that, psychokinesis. It seemed otherworldly, but at the same time, was I not also gifted in a certain way such as these?

"I suppose I can see the curiosity in all of it." I sighed before asking, "What language is this?"

Demetri made his way over to the desk and peered down. "That's Greek. At least some of it." He pointed to a couple of words below it. "This here is Latin. You can see the difference in the lettering."

"Do you read either?"

"I do, but it is not our place to be looking through the master's notes." Demetri promptly took the book from me and closed it before placing it back where it was on the desk. "Such things will only bring castigation."

"Castigation? Really?"

"It's originally from the Latin ' _castigatus_.' Your first lesson." He smiled as he spoke, and I sent him one back as I rolled my eyes.

It was quiet again for a moment before I finally spoke. "Do you know how much longer he'll be? At least an estimate?"

"It could be a while. The situation is not an easily decided one. Why?"

"He says I'm not trapped here," I replied looking at the floor, "that I'm not locked up here, but I feel like I am. I can't leave this building. I'm probably not even allowed to leave this room without him, am I?"

"That there is really for your own safety," Demetri answered.

"Well, what about my parents? If they don't hear from me…"

"I'm sure Aro will make arrangements."

"You do realize that my parents, at least my Dad knew something was wrong. That was why we left, or at least I'm beginning to presume that more and more the more I learn about all of this. If I end up missing, what do you think he'll do? I had to call to tell them that Nonna passed away just over a week after my grandfather. Don't you think that will raise some suspicion especially if I just disappear off the face of the planet?"

"As I said, Aro will make arrangements. We do know what we're doing after all."

"Don't tell me it's not the first time you've done this?"

"It's been awhile since anyone new has joined the coven, but we do have centuries of practice in coming up with excuses." Demetri stated it as if it were nothing.

"Like my grandfather for instance, not performing an autopsy when one absolutely should have been performed," I replied a little more harshly than I had meant to, but at the same time, maybe I did mean it.

"Why perform an autopsy when we're aware of how he died. Autopsies are done to ascertain cause of death. His cause of death was known."

"Because you killed him." I turned away from Demetri as an angry tear threatened to fall. Angry, or maybe scared. I did not know anymore which was which. Both emotions seemed to collide in the moment. I could not stay here, but I had no choice. I needed to leave. I had to leave. Somehow, I had to get out of here.

Demetri sighed. "We're back to that again?"

I stepped away from him and made my way back into the bedroom, slamming the door and falling onto the bed. How the hell was I going to get out of here? There had to be some way. Emilio. Maybe he could… but he was in Siena. If I could contact him…

A tear slipped out, and I brushed it away immediately. Looking down at my wrist, now in a splint, I wondered how long exactly it would take to heal. They were strong, and Aro was not above threatening me. I had no doubt in my mind that he had not been joking when he talked about truly "locking me up" earlier just to prove a point. There was no way I was going down however without a fight. I would make it work. I would have a say in this whether he liked it or not.

Sitting back up, I took another look at my suitcase. I would not unpack completely. My clothes needed to stay right there just in case. Easy access after all. Maybe I could play along for a while, play his little game of house.

I hissed as a pain shot through my chest. It hurt to even think about running, but what choice did I have? I did not have any feelings for or about him except hate. I would not allow myself to feel anything different. He was a murderer. Even if he had not killed my grandparents himself, he was apart of it indirectly. They were his orders, his decision. I could not forgive him for that.

Demetri said he was thinking of me the whole time. No, he was thinking only of himself and his wants and desires, and none of that had to do with what I wanted or desired. I just wanted everything to be normal, I wanted to be normal, and this was the furthest thing from normal that there was. The stories were fun as a child, and perhaps, yes, they did still pique my curiosity but only because they reminded me of my grandfather, but to actually be apart of them, absolutely not.

As spacious as the room was, I began to feel claustrophobic and closed my eyes, bending my head as nausea set in. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. And a part of me wanted him to come back. "Aro…"

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 **A/N: I live for reviews. :)**


	14. The Choices We Make

**Yes, I know it has been months since I last posted a chapter. In my defense, for those of you who don't already know, I was working on my original book that was officially published in December 2017. It made the best sellers list, peaking at #61 within its first week of release which to me was insane yet incredible. I am also currently working on an in demand second part as well as another novel that my editor has also been on me about for months now. Updates to all of my stories are going to be sporadic, but I promise that they have not been abandoned. I have detailed plans for them and endings already in sight which I think you all are going to love. Without further ado, enjoy!**

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Everything spun. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the room spin around me and then I was no longer alone. I was in a cold embrace, and whether I consciously decided to or not, I fell into it, allowing whoever was holding me to hold me tighter to their chest.

"I'm here, _mia amore_ ," the velvety voice said. His voice. My heart was erratic. I knew he could hear it, feel it. I cried for the first time, and he frowned. "What is it?"

His icy fingers smoothed back my hair from my face and he turned me to look at me. I stared away, not immediately catching how his frown deepened. "Why did you have to kill him? He wouldn't have told your secrets. You took away any chance I had of getting to know him, Nonna as well. Were you really thinking of me? How can you expect me to stay here with those thoughts, that knowledge? What do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you to obey and give it a chance. You have not even tried."

"I don't want to try." I sat up then, and he allowed me out of his arms. I turned to look him straight in his eyes. "I want to go home."

He continued to watch me, the firmness underlying my tone had him thinking. "This is home now, with me."

"I don't want you!" I tried to stand and step away, but he quickly stood and pulled me to him, taking my chin and forcing me to look at him again. His grip was on the verge of being painful, and I held my breath.

"You were the one who called out for me, my dear, so I came."

After speaking, he released me and let his words sink in. Had I called out to him? I suppose I had, but I didn't mean it in that way. What in the world was happening to me? How could I feel such two strong emotions at once, complete opposites of each other. It was too much, and I couldn't stop the tears falling no matter how much I wanted them to stop.

"Liliana, I can understand how difficult this must be for you."

"What can you understand? Have you ever had your life taken from you?"

"I am giving life back to you, and yes, Liliana, I have. There is also much about me you do not know, so do not presume to think you do."

What he meant did not make sense to me, so I said nothing more. Giving me life? He wanted to turn me into some undead creature. How is that life? But he was right. There was a lot about him that I did not know, and I felt myself yearning and eager to know more as much as I tried to stop that feeling from coming.

"It makes it much more difficult when you fight it. You would do better to accept how you are feeling and ask questions when they arise. I can help you. That is why I am here."

I took another step away from him. "I need time. That's what I need. Time to figure this out."

"But you already have it figured out, my dear. That is part of your wonderful gift. You know why you are here and why you feel the way you do. Deep down, you have already seen it, have you not? You choose to fight the inevitable." Aro sighed. "Perhaps I should have allowed you to speak to your grandfather about all of this before."

"Before you still had him killed? I don't care about your laws. He never would have told anyone anything. He would have done anything to keep me safe and happy. Is that something you can also say to me, or does power mean more to you than anything else?"

I did not expect Aro to freeze anymore than what he already had, but there he was, still as a statue, his red eyes wide with what looked like hurt and pain. It was quiet for a moment, perhaps as he thought of what to say next. I wondered what it was that I said to make him go into this state.

Finally Aro spoke, his voice much softer than I had heard it before. "Maybe you are right, but one cannot afford to dwell on past choices or mistakes. If we were to do such a thing, we would be lost and never experience happiness again. It is important to move on from the choices we've made, learn from them, grow, and prevent that choice ever needing to be made again."

Whatever he was talking about now had nothing to do with me, that I was sure, but I did not question him further about it. I did wonder though if he was admitting at first that he had made a mistake when he took my grandparents from me. I decided not to push the matter. I wiped my eyes that were still slightly wet from the tears that had fallen minutes ago and took a deep breath while now I thought what to say.

Aro walked slowly over to me and took my hands gently in his. "You do not need to say anything, _mia amore._ We both have much to learn from and about each other, and we have all the time we need. I hope one day you will be able to forgive me for what was done. I truly do only wish for your happiness. In my position, this may be difficult to always see or understand. All I can do is try."

Aro released my hands then turned and walked towards the door. "I really must get back to what I was attending to. Liliana, please try to understand the things I do are all for you and also this coven, even if I later learn another option existed. I will never regret what I have done. I do not have that luxury. I am sorry for the pain and confusion you now feel for my choices, and I hope I can ease that over time. I will leave you now, my love."

And with that, he was gone.

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 **A/N: Please leave a review so I know you all are still around! Thank you for your patience, support and love.**


	15. the Word to the Action

I stayed in the room a while longer, and my mind kept wandering to what his went to when I said what I did. What sort of choice was it that he had to make in the past that caused him to appear like that, to lose his composure for a moment. I could think of nothing immediately and let it fall into the recesses of my mind for a later time.

After calming myself down more and knowing that I could go out and face him, I left the room to find Demetri sitting on the sofa with a book. When I walked out, he glanced over at me and then returned his attention to what he was reading. He looked stiff sitting there, an ankle crossed over the knee, his back flat against the cushions, shoulders down with no tension whatsoever, yet everything on edge as if he could pounce at any moment. I wondered if it was comfortable or normal.

A few days previously, when we had talked at the park, he had sat just as stiffly on the bench as we talked. His demeanor also seemed much different then. He was curious about me and what I had to say, even if it was only to report back to Aro what I had said. Now, it was hard to tell if he wanted to talk to me or if he despised me in some way.

I took a few steps closer to the sofa before saying anything. He looked up at me again, his eyebrows raised wanting to know what I needed. "What are you reading?" My voice still was not proper and came out softly, but he understood what I asked.

" _Meditations._ "

"What is that?"

"I'm surprised you've never heard of it. It's considered by many to be one of the greatest works in the field of philosophy," Demetri answered.

"I can't say I have much interest in philosophy, sitting around thinking about life and what it means."

"Philosophy is not simply answering the question 'what is the meaning of life.' Philosophy is also the study of ethics, values and reason. It involves critical thinking about matters to give a logical argument for being. Marcus Aurelius studied stoic philosophy. In terms you will understand, it teaches one self-control instead of acting out on their emotions. Happiness comes from wisdom, and we can only control how we ourselves behave and react. Perhaps you should read this. You may find it useful."

I wanted to roll my eyes at him but forced myself not to. "Right. Emotions aren't bad you know."

"No, but they are when you let them control you. It is important that you have them in your control before you become like us."

"Why's that?"

"Because your emotional state will be heightened. It is important to learn how to turn it off when necessary," he replied.

"It doesn't matter. I never said I was going to be like you."

Demetri turned back to his book and began reading again. "You should talk to Aro then."

This time, I did roll my eyes. I walked back over to Aro's desk for no reason except to create some space between Demetri and I. Nothing had changed on it, not that there was any time for Aro to have moved things around after he left since it was so abrupt. I looked back over at Demetri. "Is there anything to do in here?"

"Read. There are at least a hundred or two books around you. Take one."

"Are there any books I might actually recognize?"

"I doubt there is anything of what you would call contemporary or modern. I do hope you know Shakespeare."

"Who doesn't?"

"Fourth shelf from the left, third row," Demetri said inclining his head as he did over to the shelves of books that lined the wall. "He has a collection of Shakespeare there you might enjoy. There is also Moliere as well as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides if you're interested in some of the Greek plays."

"No Aristophanes?"

He peered up at me after I asked and smiled. "Good. You're aware of some of the greats then, and no, no Aristophanes. Aro had no interest in him. Apparently, if you know anything of his plays and his love for satire, he had written in a character based off of Aro himself. Aro was angered by this piece and threatened him to destroy it. The play was performed but has since become lost amongst many plays of that era. Aro has refused to touch any work of his since."

I stood there slightly shocked at thinking that Aro knew these people at one point in history. That astounded me. It still had not set in with me on how old Aro really was. It was hard for my mind to accept, and I grew curious. "Can I ask you something, Demetri?"

"Hm?"

"How old are you? Not when you were changed, but how long has it been since you were born?"

"I'm much younger than Aro if that's what you're wondering. I've been a vampire for just over 1000 years, but an exact time, I could not tell you."

"Was Aro the one who changed you?"

Once more, Demetri turned away and poured his attention back into his book. "No."

With his reaction, I decided to not bother him any further and went to the right shelf to find a book to read. Aro did have quite a collection of plays, so I grabbed the first one of Shakespeare's that I saw then sat down in a chair across from Demetri. I glanced up at him another time before opening the play and immersing myself in its content.

An hour or so passed before Aro came back into the room. At least I assume it was about an hour given that I was nearly halfway through the play I was reading. I did not look up when he entered, but I noticed Demetri stand and put away his book before he and Aro conversed again shortly in another language, one that was not English or Italian.

When Demetri left the room, Aro made his way over to me, and I sighed as he asked, "What are you reading?"

"Hamlet. It was the first one I saw, so I grabbed it."

"'Doubt thou stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.' It is a favorite of mine, I confess."

"Oh, look here," I said pointing to a line on the page. "'One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.' I guess that says all I need to know."

"But you forget in Act 2 where Hamlet says, 'for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.'"

"And to me, it is a prison," I finished the quote for him.

I did not expect the ache in my chest when he frowned, but it was there nonetheless. "I want this place to feel like home. I want you to be at home with me, to be happy. One day."

Aro stepped aside after speaking and went to his desk where I saw him pull out a large bound book from one of the drawers. I watched as he opened it up and began writing. I tried to go back to reading, but my mind had no interest in the words any longer, and my attention kept being drawn back to the quill in his hands. I found it strange that he would use such an instrument when pens were easier and more readily available, but remembering who he was and where I was made me realize that it really was not that strange at all. Quill and ink would be normal for him.

"What are you writing?" The words were out of my mouth before I knew what I had said, but once I spoke, they were out there and his focus jumped back to mine as our eyes met.

He smiled gently. "I am writing about the events that occurred today. The journal is where I keep my thoughts on all that occurs in the world and on matters that I may have to attend to in the future. It is good to know all the facts before making a judgement."

"So it's like a diary?"

"I suppose so."

"What did happen today that you were gone for so long?"

"It is nothing that should worry you for now. Small matters that I can have the guard attend to if the need arises."

"The guard?"

"Yes. There is still much I need to explain to you. You have met many of them already. Demetri, Chelsea and Renata are all part of what is called the Volturi guard. While my brothers and I make many of the decisions that affect our kind, the guard enforces these laws for us to keep peace and balance between our worlds. It is for the protection of all."

I nodded. The laws that say humans should not know vampires exist because if they do, they have to die, those laws. The laws that took my family away from me. I had to try, so I said, "Right. About your laws, I may not be able to leave here, but I need to contact my parents. They have to be wondering why I didn't check in last night. I'm used to calling them." That last part about calling them every night may have been a slight lie. Normally my mom and I would at least send a text, but would Aro even know what a text was?

Aro narrowed his eyes at me as I said this. "You call them every night? Hm." It was once more that I wondered if he could somehow understand everything I was thinking, but he did not push it. "Yes, I do think it might be appropriate for you to call your family and tell them that you will be staying in Europe for some time. They can simply think you are traveling."

"You have a plan for everything, don't you?"

"Not everything." Aro sat down the quill he was using before adding, "I think I would like to introduce you to the rest of the guard. It may be good for you to get to know them. Of course, you can tell me when you feel comfortable enough to do so. Though, I think you would like to spend time with Renata. The two of you are around the same age, at least the age she was changed, and she does seem to have taken to you already. The two of you could be friends."

"Friends with your shadow? I don't know. The stalker vibe throws me off a little."

At this, he laughed. "You could always spend more time with Demetri if you prefer."

I paused. "On the other hand, Renata sounds great."

"I am glad you have reconsidered. And Lia? You may call your parents in the morning."

I nodded and with that, Aro went back to writing in the journal, and I went back to the tragedy that was Hamlet. 'There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'

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 **A/N: Quotes and title are from Shakespeare's Hamlet. If you've read other stories of mine, you have probably seen Hamlet quoted before. I studied this play line for line, word for word, for an entire semester in college for one of my theater classes. Needless to say, I know more about it than I probably ever should, but it has since become one of my favorites to perform and discuss.**

 **Please review! It's why this chapter came out so fast. :)**


	16. The Iron Chain and the Silken Cord

It was late when Aro had come back the night previous, and at some point I must have fallen asleep because when I awoke, I was in the bedroom tucked into the covers of the massive bed my grandfather had supposedly donated to Aro just for me. When I thought about that, I started to wonder just what exactly my grandfather had in mind by giving Aro a bed. Was he really expecting something to happen between this vampire and myself or was he only wanting to make sure I had a soft place to sleep when the time came for me to brought here? I did not want to think of the previous though knowing what I did of my grandfather, it was hard to say either way.

I heard a soft sound to my right, so I turned over in the bed to see Aro sitting there in a chair watching me. I sat bolt upright, heart pounding, and all he could do was laugh at me for it. "My apologies, my love. I did not mean to startle you."

"Did you put me to bed?"

"I did. You must have still been tired because I noticed you fell asleep not long after you went back to reading. It had been a long day for you. I am not surprised."

"Were you sitting there the whole night?"

"I was."

"Doing what exactly?"

He smiled as he stood and walked over to the bed before sitting down on the edge. "Watching you sleep of course." He took a finger and pushed some hair behind my ear before dropping his hand again. I did not want him touching me right now, or ever. I was glad, hoping, he had finally figured that out.

I was a little put off by his answer to say the least. Put off and creeped out. Even if I was important to him, sleeping with a vampire watching me did not put me at ease. Sleeping with anyone watching me would not put me at ease. "Why were you watching me sleep? That's not exactly something I'm comfortable with."

"You looked peaceful. Since vampires do not sleep, I wonder what it is that must be going through your mind while you are. Though you do turn a lot. Did you sleep well? Is the bed soft enough?"

"It's fine, just don't do that anymore. Please."

"Even keeping me from you while you sleep," Aro replied sadly. "What is it that I can do to make this work? I do not believe you understand how difficult this is for me to not change you right now, but I want to give you time to make that decision on your own. It is not something that I want to force on you."

"I told you that I'll refuse," I said quietly reminding him.

"Yes, I remember, but you and I both know that you will not refuse forever. It pains you, does it not?"

"Stop acting like you can read my mind."

Aro smiled at this before taking my hand in his and kissing the top gently. His lips were cold, like ice on my skin, before he let my hand go. "You are easy to read."

Pushing off the covers, I moved my legs to the side of the bed before standing. Aro followed suit, so I asked him, "Do you mind if I have some privacy, just to get ready?" He nodded his head then exited the room slowly.

Once he was gone, I grabbed my bag and pulled out a change of clothes. Thankfully Aro had not decided on changing me into something more comfortable before putting me to bed, otherwise the conversation this morning would have went much differently. If anything, I could say that at least, for the most part, he seemed to act like a gentleman toward me. Somehow, when he was near, I knew nothing bad would happen, but that did not mean I felt ease with the situation at all. I just knew he would not harm me.

I went into the bathroom and decided to take a quick shower. I shut the door, locking it behind me though I doubted it really mattered, before starting the warm water. It was relaxing, and I closed my eyes under the stream. What would I say to my parents when I talked to them later. I would have to remind Aro about him agreeing to let me call them in case he forgot. How was I going to get into contact with Emilio. Would Aro maybe let me call him as well? For some reason, the feeling I had about that one was not as optimistic.

I stayed under the water as long as I could before deciding it was time to get out and face whatever the day had in store for me. Stepping out of the shower, I toweled off before getting dressed and doing other rather human things. Again, why would a vampire need to use the toilet? If he really did have all of this placed in here for me, he was not lying when he said he had been ready and waiting for me to return for a very long time.

Moving out of the bathroom, I put my bag back down by the door before leaving the bedroom. I saw Aro sitting at his desk reading though the book I had seen there the other day. He looked up when I entered and his face lit up. I sighed. "That book, what's so interesting about it?"

"It discusses phenomena that cannot be explained by rational means. I thought to get to know more about your own gift by studying it," Aro replied.

"I would much rather you not."

"Then think about it as research in other humans with special abilities. You see, many vampires are gifted and these come from abilities they once had as humans. Take Demetri for example. He is what we call a tracker, the best in the world by chance. As a human, he often spied on enemy camps for his military due to his vast knowledge of navigation and a hunch of intelligence on where they may be located. When he was changed, his tracking ability became known rather quickly and with practice, he honed it into what it is today."

"A tracker? What does that mean exactly?"

"It means that if we were ever in need of finding someone, all Demetri would have to do is focus in on their mind. He catches a sort of flavor and can follow it to their destination. What makes his gift so unique is that he only need meet the person once or someone else that has met the person. His ability has never once failed unless it has come up against a shield."

This was a lot of information for me to take in, but what he said had me curious. If I were to somehow escape, what he was saying is that Demetri would be able to find me wherever I went, however, it fails against a shield. Now I just needed to know what this shield was. "What's that?"

"A shield is a person, such as Renata, who has the ability to block attacks. Renata's shield is physical. As I told you yesterday, it will deter anyone from trying to physically harm the one she is protecting. I have also met one mental shield in my long life, and she was able to block abilities that affect the mind."

"So a shield is someone with that specific skill?"

"Yes.

"You said many vampires are gifted. What about you?"

"My love, the majority of us here are. It is why I picked the members of the guard I have. Their gifts are the best I have found, and they are loyal to the coven without fault."

I quickly picked up that he was skirting the question but did not press him on it. It was something that I would keep filed away for later because now I did desperately want to know what his gift was, especially if there was some sort of chance he could be using it on me. After all, what did I know about these gifts? Demetri was a tracker and he thinks that my dreams and things that I know are some sort of special phenomena. Who knows what else people could do. Maybe he really did have the ability to read minds after all. He did seem to know more than he let on at times.

I made my way over to the desk and looked over his shoulder a moment, which he allowed me to do. I read a bit on the page that he was reading and saw more notes that he had written. "What does it say?"

"Hm? My notes? It is nothing that would interest you. They are only ramblings of an old mind."

"In other words, you don't want to tell me," I said moving away from him again. "You said I could call my parents."

With a sigh, he put a marker in the book and closed it. "I did say that, yes."

I watched as he opened one of the drawers and took something out of it which made my eyes widen. "Where did you get that?" As he pulled the item out, I saw my phone in his hands. A bit of anger came over me seeing it, knowing it had been so close all this time.

"Demetri brought it by with your things. He thought it may be useful to have."

My mind jumpstarted as I began to think of all the pictures I had on there and texts from friends and my mom. Had he looked through them? Had Demetri looked through them? Unlike most people, my phone did not have a specific lock code that I used. I only swiped for mere convenience as I kept it close to me at all times anyway. "Did you look through it?"

"No. Even if I had wanted to, I do not know how to use these contraptions."

"You can't tell me that you weren't curious. You were the one saying we had much to learn about each other."

"Not as curious as you would expect me to be," Aro replied. "Are you not going to call your parents?"

Sighing, I turned on the phone which had been conveniently turned off. Someone at least knew how to operate it. When it had started up, I began to dial the number when Aro stopped me.

"Liliana."

I looked up at him. "What?"

"You will tell your parents exactly what we agreed to yesterday evening. You will be traveling in Europe and will not have the chance to contact them every day. You will do so when the chance arises. Do you understand?"

"I didn't agree to that."

Aro stood and made his way over to me. "Then you will not be calling them."

At that moment, I wanted to hit him, but I knew that would probably be a mistake considering the fact that I was the delicate one, not him. I let out a frustrated sigh before agreeing. "Fine. I'll lie."

He stood next to me as I finished dialing the number and the phone rang. My mother picked it up a moment later. "Lia, how are you? I didn't get a text from you the past two nights."

"I know. I'm sorry. A couple nights ago I was really busy with finalizing everything after the funeral and last night I fell asleep early."

"It's okay. I've been worried about you with grandpa passing and then grandma not so long after. Is everything okay? I hate that you're having to handle all of that by yourself. Is there anyone there helping you?"

"Yes, Mom. Everyone has been wonderful. Things are fine. Like I've said, I've just been busy. Nonno left me the house, so I'm going through some of the things to figure out what to do with them, but I think I'm planning on taking a holiday just to get away for awhile. Maybe travel to Europe for a few months. Nonno left me the money for it, so that's not a problem."

"Lia, I don't like the idea of you traveling by yourself. Have you talked to Emilio?"

I sighed thinking about him. "He's in college, Mom, but I have a friend that I made that I can go with."

"A friend?"

"Yes. Just a friend." The word friend came out indifferent because I did not consider Aro a friend, but it was best that my mother think that this mysterious person was. She didn't need anymore information, and she often wasn't interested either.

"Well, whatever you decide to do, be safe and call me or text me."

"I will, but I won't be able to all the time. When I have the chance, I'll update you."

"Alright. I love you."

"Love you too, Mom. I'll talk to you later."

I pressed the end call button on the phone, and Aro held his hand back out for it. "Your mother sounds nice."

"It's rude to listen in to people's conversations." At that moment, my phone beeped a few times, and I saw multiple text messages finally coming in since it had been turned off. A few were from my mom and a couple were from Emilio. "Can I call Emilio."

Aro's eyes narrowed at me when I said his name. "I do not see a reason for you to contact him."

"He's my best friend. That's reason enough. He's texted me twice about Nonna. He's probably worried about me and wondering if I'm okay."

"You may text him back and tell him that you are." After Aro spoke, he came closer to me and watched what I was typing into my phone.

I wrote back to Emilio saying that I was fine, and I would contact him again when I had the chance. Aro looking over at my shoulder and watching everything I was doing left me completely frustrated again. When I was finished, I turned around and spoke much more harshly than I meant to. "Do you seriously not trust me? You're acting like you're some sort of kidnapper who's worried I'm going to give away sensitive information about my location."

"What do you expect me to do? You do not wish to be here, yet I cannot allow you to leave nor do I want you to leave. You do not trust me, so how can you expect me to put my full trust in you? That goes both ways." Aro took the phone from my hands and placed it back in the drawer of his desk.

"I'm not allowed to leave. I'm not allowed to talk to anyone except for those you deem appropriate which is who? Your guard? Demetri, Chelsea, Renata? I can't do anything on my own outside of this room. I'm never left alone for that matter. I feel like I'm in a cage. How is this ever going to work if you don't allow me any freedom at all?"

Aro turned back to me before walking past me to the door. Seeing his face, I knew he was upset with my words, but it was how I felt. He opened the door before speaking. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

Slowly, I followed him out and we walked down the hall to the elevator before getting on it and going up to the third floor. When we exited, we continued down another corridor into a small library where he went up to a shelf and moved it aside. Behind the shelf was a hidden door which he opened and motioned for me to go through.

Behind the door was a flight of stairs which I climbed carefully, Aro behind me the whole time. When we reached the landing, there were another set of doors, one which I could feel cool air coming from underneath and another which I saw flickering lights. This was the door that opened and a woman stepped out, another vampire that I did not recognize.

"Corin," Aro spoke gently to her. "Could you give us a moment?"

"Of course, Master," was Corin's reply before she walked down the stairs Aro and I had only come up.

Once Corin was out of sight, Aro spoke to me again. He pointed to the door Corin had only come out of before he began to explain. "Through that door are two women who are very important to Caius, one of the other founders of this coven, and myself. Their names are Athenodora and Sulpicia. They are our wives."

My eyes widened at this information given what I knew about what Aro wanted from me now, but before I could speak, he cut me off.

"Please do not be surprised at this. I married Sulpicia out of convenience and neither of us feel true love towards the other, though her company has been well received through these millenia. She is a dear friend, the dearest, but my love for her is not pure as her love is not for me." He paused for a moment thinking about what to say next. "Sulpicia and Athenodora remain in this tower for their safety. Many years ago, my sister, Didyme, was murdered and the one who committed this crime was never found. Caius and I, after seeing how Didyme's death affected Marcus, as the two of them were mates, decided that we could not suffer the same way. We brought them to this room to be cared for and guarded so no harm would ever come to them."

"You made them prisoners in their home," I replied in utter disbelief.

"They are content with the situation and understand why it must be this way. We visit them often as does Corin who you just saw." Aro grasped my chin to look up at him as I had looked away toward the door. Our eyes met, and I dared not look away. "Though I should, I do not have you in this tower with them. I keep you close by my side offering you more freedom than you believe you have. If you would prefer to join them, go ahead. I doubt they would mind another companion in their midsts. Perhaps they would be better company than I."

When he let me go, he turned away and left down the stairs leaving me in front of the door to the tower room. I sat down on the landing and put my head in my hands not knowing at all what to think or what to do. Should I cry? Should I scream? The entirety of this realization was almost too much.

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 **A/N: Title comes from the quote, "The iron chain and the silken cord are both equally bonds," by Friedrich Schiller.**

 **I love seeing the new follows/favorites, but reviews put a smile on my face. I also always reply. :)**


	17. Not So Simple Conversations

I heard near soundless footsteps coming back up the stairs, so I looked up to see Corin ascending to the landing. When she reached it, she sat down beside me before speaking. "You are Liliana, correct?"

I nodded. "I prefer Lia."

"I'm Corin. We didn't have a chance to be properly introduced yet. I am glad to finally meet you. The coven has been speaking of you since Demetri mentioned your arrival in Volterra." I did not reply to her seeing as I did not really have anything to say, so she went on. "I know Aro can be hard to understand, but he does mean well."

"I can see that he's trying," I replied, finding that I did mean it, "but it's not working. It's not going to work. I'm not happy here. I don't like being controlled, told what I can and can't do. I can never forgive him for what he did, no matter how much he wishes it."

"It really is not all that bad here. You know, with time, maybe he will allow you to do more. He wants to protect you. We are vampires after all, and your blood is a scent we're not accustomed to. Mistakes can happen. It is best if we get to know you before you go on your own, at least while he decides to keep you human."

Corin of course was right. It really was not that bad here at the Palazzo. Aro had things set up nicely for me, and I did get to leave the room when accompanied. I did not have a death wish and would hate to be asking for one of them to accidentally kill me. Plus, Aro would most likely give me anything he could if I would ask. He cared about me. No, maybe it was not a nightmare like I was making it out to be at all.

I smiled at her. "You're right. I don't know why I've been so upset over all of this. Besides, it's not as if I knew my grandparents that well to begin with. I don't know why it had bothered me or made me angry with him. No, he did what he had to do, and I need to be okay with that."

"Of course, you do," Corin replied.

I felt warm as the two of us talked, questioning all the negative feelings I had towards Aro, Demetri and this place. Aro was trying to keep me safe. I should be content with that, so I was. I told Corin that even Demetri was playing his part, and I could not despise him for that either. He was following orders, and those orders were given for a very important reason. What was that reason again? To keep me safe?

It did not matter. I felt as if I wanted to apologize to him for yelling at him the previous evening. I made a note of it in my mind to do so when I saw him later. He deserved that.

Soon, the door below us opened and Chelsea appeared on the stairwell and came up halfway. She and Corin exchanged pleasant words before Chelsea said that we should go back downstairs. I said goodbye to Corin and thanked her for talking to me before following Chelsea down into the small library below. "You haven't had any breakfast yet, so we'll go to the kitchen so you can make something. Aro will be preoccupied for a while."

As we walked further away from the library and to the elevator, I started to feel some of the resentment come back. I had to second guess myself again. I absolutely should be angry and furiated at what Aro has done. How could I ever be okay with that?

"Is something wrong?"

I looked up at Chelsea. "I don't know. I thought I was okay and suddenly now, you mention his name, and I can't not hate what he's done. I don't care if he's trying to protect me. I don't need protection. And how am I supposed to trust him at all after all of this?"

She frowned before answering. "I have known Aro for millenia. He has always done what he thought was best. He is demanding and controlling at times, yes, but he is also very passionate about those he surrounds himself with. He does not choose his companions lightly, and you are much more than a simple companion to him."

We reached the kitchen, and I thought about what Chelsea said while making a small bowl of cereal. I sat down across from her at the table but had no appetite to eat. "You must know a lot about him then."

"I do," Chelsea replied. "Did he tell you why he formed the coven?"

"Something about keeping humans as well as vampires safe."

"It is much easier to live peacefully when those who would hunt you believe you cease to exist. Though there are some cultures who still believe in the stories of the vampire, most now think of it to be stories of myth and folklore. Were you aware that even pop culture has their own version of vampires?"

"I read Dracula many years ago, so yes."

"You should have Aro tell you more about that. I think you may find what he has to say interesting."

She was probably right. After all, Aro was not a terrible person. He had been kind to me thus far and maybe I should talk to him more and get to know him. After all, we were fated for things to happen in the near future. I was attracted to him, wasn't I? Somewhat? His voice was almost light and feathery though spoke no nonsense, and that was admirable. "Yes, I will ask him more about it. I do want to learn more about the stories he has to tell. I have to admit, he does fascinate me to some extent. After living for so long, I can't imagine what all he has seen."

"He has seen a lot of war and a lot of human mistakes. He learns from these. I cannot say he thinks highly of most humans, but can you blame him after seeing the mistakes they have made year after year, century after century?"

"No, I guess I can't. It would be frustrating to watch and not be able to do anything. Still, that doesn't excuse the mistakes he has made himself, does it?"

"Aro is still learning, as are we all."

"Can you tell me something? You worked closely with my grandfather. Aro says that he was aware of everything. Was he really okay with all of this? Was he okay with knowing what Aro wanted from me?"

Chelsea gave me a soft smile, and I could not look away from her face that simply glowed. "He was. He had hoped that you would be able to accept it all, but he did have concern for how you would take the truth when you found it out."

"I believe you, but even with everything, I still feel stuck." I looked down at my cereal that I had barely touched except for a couple bites at this point and sighed. "I really don't want this right now."

"That's okay. You can always grab something later if you get hungry then. You only need to ask."

"Right. I have to even ask to eat now, and that's somehow okay to all of you."

"I know it's hard right now," Chelsea said looking me in the eyes. "But please understand that Aro only has it this way for now to make sure that you are not harmed. He is scared of losing you again."

Something shifted inside me, and I understood her meaning. I would talk to Aro about it more. I wanted to get to know him more. Still, that did not change the fact that I wanted to find a way to escape this place. "Can you take me back to the room?"

"Of course. I'm sure Aro is ready for you to return."

Her words caused my heart to jump, and I realized that I did really want to see him, too.

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 **A/N: Wow! Thank you for the reviews I woke up to. They really made my day and encouraged me to get this next chapter out even though I was working on my original novel all day! It is now 2:30am, and I hope this chapter left you well. All I know is that some things are about to go down, so put on your seat belts and get ready for the ride.**

 **Always review! I always reply.**


	18. We All Have Our Secrets

**Just a quick note. I wrote something in much earlier chapters that I will be going back to fix since I would rather not deal with it in this story to the extent that I would need to should I keep it the way it is now. This is the fact that Aro accidentally dislocates Lia's wrist. I will change it soon, but for now, just know that her wrist was not dislocated. It was only bruised and a splint was used for a short time period because it would hurt to move it around. Therefore, at this point, it is no longer applicable to the story.**

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Days passed on, and I realized that after talking to Corin and Chelsea, I had been given a different perspective on things. While I would not say I was overjoyed with the situation as it was, I understood Aro's need better to keep me protected. However, we still rarely spoke.

At night, he would watch me go off to bed with a frown and longing eyes. I understood what he wanted, but I stood my ground that I needed some space and that it would be difficult to sleep knowing that he was there. Whether he ever came in before I awoke or not was a question I could not answer, but every morning, I would either find him at his desk working or I would see Demetri over on the sofa, nose in a book.

When Aro was around, we kept our distance. I went back to reading or even writing as he had offered me pen and paper when I mentioned that he could not expect me to sit in the room all day reading like Demetri seemed inclined to do. I was surprised when I received the pen from him seeing as I never saw him use one himself, but I made no comment and simply thanked him.

Occasionally, I would listen to music on a very old radio Chelsea had brought in for me. It had been a long time since I had to scan through stations rather than press a button to a number. Aro also seemed to take a liking to the thing and found a station he enjoyed which played classical and baroque period style music all day. He introduced me to some of the composers by mentioning them when pieces would play and how he had often been at some of their premieres. But these times were rare. Aro was gone more often than not, and I was usually left to the mercy of Demetri or Renata.

Renata and I got along well. She was quiet, but I had found out she had been changed by her uncle at only a year older than I was. She adored Aro with every part of her being. It was not quite love but a mixture of admiration and captivation. The whole eagerness of wanting and needing to be near Aro at all times was a little unnerving though she said she did not mind being around me either. It was her duty to protect us both.

I was curious to know more about her as she was about me, so one day I asked her about her shield. If this particular gift was supposed to be what kept us safe, then I wanted to know exactly how it worked. What I did not expect was for her to stand up and tell me to follow her which I gladly did to get out of that room.

We made our way down the hall and up a flight of stairs at the end before we continued down another corridor and into another room. Inside the room sat Demetri and the large male vampire I had seen with him the day I met Aro. They both looked up and Demetri asked if something was wrong. Renata replied that there wasn't, but that I wanted to see how her shield worked.

The large vampire, whom I later learned was called Felix, laughed at her statement. Demetri then replied that he could be the one she shows it on then if he thought it was so funny. At this point, I was still confused as to what was going on, so Renata explained.

"Felix is going to attack you, but don't worry. I won't allow him to harm you."

Felix pouted. "Why do I always get stuck with the dirty work?"

"That is because you are the muscles of the operation while I am the brains," Demetri answered in kind which caused Renata to giggle and Felix to scowl.

I watched him as he took a sort of stance on the side of the room he was on. When he rushed over, I stepped back, but it did not matter. He immediately stopped and left the room muttering about how he had to be somewhere. I followed him with my eyes as he walked down the hall, and Demetri shook his head.

"That's how Renata's gift works. It repels physical attacks by causing the attacker confusion. The attacker wonders what they were doing there in the first place and will often leave to attend to something else that was implanted in their mind."

Turning to Demetri I asked, "But her gift doesn't work against your tracking ability, does it? She wouldn't be able to shield me from you ever tracking me down."

"I see you've been told about what I can do then. No, it would not block my ability to track as that is a mental ability, not physical."

"How far exactly can you track a person?"

Renata glanced over at me with a frown while Demetri replied, "Over a great distance."

"How great of a distance?"

"Why do you ask? Are you still planning on trying to leave even knowing that you wouldn't stand a chance?" I watched Renata as she walked over to Demetri and slapped him on the arm. "What was that for?"

"Don't threaten her," she answered.

"It wasn't a threat. It was a fact. You know as well as I that she's not allowed to leave while she's still human. It's safer for her here."

"Wait, Demetri, you mean, when I'm like you, Aro would let me leave?"

"I didn't say that exactly. You have to understand that your old life can no longer be. You are one of us now because you are important to Aro, more important than any of us here. It is something we, as vampires, understand better than humans do."

It was at that moment that Felix came back into the room and sat back down in the chair he had been sitting previously when Renata and I had walked in. "Are we going to finish this game or not?"

Demetri looked back over at him with a smile before returning to a seated position himself. "If you think you still have a chance of winning."

Renata and I parted from the room and walked back down the corridor to the stairs. Both of us were silent for the longest time except my footsteps which sounded loud compared to her feet that practically glided across the floor. However, when we reached the bottom of the stairwell, she stopped. "Why do you want to leave? Why would you ever want to leave him? Don't you understand that he's in love with you? How could that not make you happy?"

There was so much pain on her face that my heart sunk. How was I supposed to answer her? To be honest, hearing her say it out loud, that Aro loved me, took me back. While it was a fact that I already knew, I did not accept it. Hearing his endearments did nothing for me, but when Renata spoke it, it was different.

"Renata," I sighed. "How can I love someone I've only barely met? How can I be happy when so much has been taken away from me? All of you, Corin, Chelsea, even Demetri, keep telling me that I should be happy, that there's a reason for everything he has to do. I understand that. It's not as if I hate him. I feel like, I have grown slightly more attached to him since I've been here, but that's not love. I don't want to hurt him though I feel conflicted. For some reason, I want him to be happy, too, but I can't be happy with all that's happened."

She made to reply, but it was in that moment that I had another flash of something across my vision. She watched me curiously as I paused in thought and watched it take place. It was like a daydream, but a very strong feeling that very soon, something was going to change. Whether that something was for the better or for the worse was not implied.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," I answered while beginning to walk again back to Aro's quarters. Renata followed beside me, quiet as I am sure she pondered what had just occurred, so I continued. "However, I really am curious about all these gifts and abilities. It's not all about me trying to escape as Demetri put it. I know that's not possible. The thing is, if I am going to join you one day, as a vampire, I want to know exactly what I'm getting myself into so hopefully I can understand my own gift better as well. Aro says that my gift will be stronger than it is now, so exactly how strong can that be? The reason I am curious about Demetri's gift is because Aro said he was the best tracker in the world. That must mean he can track someone almost anywhere."

We had reached Aro's door at this point, and she nodded. "Yes, just about."

"But how far exactly does it extend? I mean, is it so strong that he could track someone from here that was say in the US?"

"He could," Renata replied. "It is difficult to say the exact distance of his ability as many places we have had no need to track a vampire to before."

"Like where?"

"There has never been any need for us to go to Australia for example or even much of South America. He could perhaps track that far, but more than likely, he would need to travel some ways in those directions to pick up on a person's trail."

"So he's not all powerful then," I smiled. "As long as I know there's not a chance my gift might make my head explode once I'm like you then I think it will be okay."

"If that were possible, Aro's would have done so centuries ago."

Now I was even more curious as to what his ability was. He had yet to tell me and the more I thought about it, the more I worried if he was using it on me. If he was, would I be able to tell? Would I be able to tell if any of them were using their gifts on me? Aro had said that most of them were extremely gifted. In fact, I only knew about Demetri's gift and Renata's, no one else's. Why was that?

"Renata, what exactly can Aro do?"

With a small hum she shook her head. "You should ask him. It's one thing to speak of Demetri's gift, but I would not dare speak of the master's without consent. He will want to tell you himself when the time is right."

"Do you know if he's using it on me now?"

"No, he's not using it on you now. It doesn't work that way. Listen, Lia, about before, give him a chance, okay? He's new to this as well, Sulpicia aside."

I rolled my eyes. "Right, let's not forget about his wife."

"Corin says that she wants to meet you."

"His wife?"

"Yes. Maybe the two of you can figure him out together."

"Or she would have the chance to kill me for stealing him from her."

Renata laughed at this, and the sound was music. Every time my ears heard it, I could not believe it was real coming from her. "There could never be any hatred in her. There is more than one kind of love."

Days continued to pass, and Aro began looking in on me more often, but things stayed the same. We talked little with each other, not for lack of what to say, but every time I would ask a question about him or about the gifts of the others in the guard, he would shut it down saying that it was not important for me to know at that current moment. After, he would seem slightly irate and often step out of the room leaving me alone to ponder what exactly it was he did not want me knowing and why.

I knew that if anything was going to work for me to contact my family or Emilio or to step out of that building, I was going to have to do something about it myself. I was going to have to get Aro to trust me completely. That night, I apologized.

Aro came back in after some time of being away and glanced over at me on the sofa where I was resting, preparing myself for what I was about to do. "If you are tired, my dear, why do you not go to bed?"

I frowned and sat up. "I'm not tired. Well, maybe I am a little. But I was thinking. I really haven't been the greatest person since I got here. Everyone has been trying to tell me this in their own way, but I haven't listened. I'm not meaning to upset you. I only want to know more where I'm living and the people I'm communicating and living around. Wouldn't you want to know these things if you were brought into a strange environment with people you had only met?"

"Liliana, it is not this that upsets me so. I want you to want what I have to give you of your free will. I know this will come, but I have waited so long to find you that I admit I am impatient. It is not an easy task."

"I know, so maybe, we can form some sort of compromise for now."

"A compromise?"

"Yes," I nodded. "I want to meet the guard. One of the reasons I can't walk around here alone is because it's dangerous in case something accidentally happens. They know who I am, but I've only ever met a few. If I got to know them, and they became more used to the smell of my blood, I would be able to go around the building by myself, right? I don't like being dependent on others and this room gets stifling."

The room was quiet as he thought and I awaited his answer. He walked over to sit next to me on the sofa, but the last thing I wanted in that moment was to be touched, so I moved back away from him. "And yet you are still uncomfortable with my affections."

"I really do need time with that. We both know, as you just said, love doesn't happen overnight."

"Of course. I will give thought to what you have proposed. I have been wanting to introduce you to the rest of the guard but did not want to push you too soon. If you are comfortable now with the thought, you may meet them tomorrow."

"You mentioned someone else a few days ago. Someone you called Caius."

"Yes, you may meet him tomorrow as well. Though I will warn you, he is not as generous as Marcus or myself. Try not to let him intimidate you. He is often vehement and loves to play his games."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means, my love, that he does not take well to argument. While he will not harm you, he has pushed greatly for you to be changed sooner rather than later. He is not happy that you are still human. It would be in your best interest, and mine, to not provoke him. Getting him to calm is not child's play."

"He has a nasty temper then, huh?"

Aro laughed. "Yes, he most certainly does."

For the next hour or so, we sat there, Aro never taking his eyes off of me. He began humming a little tune, and I curled back up on the sofa in the position I had been in when he entered. Over time, my eyes softened and closed, and the last thing I felt was a heavy blanket being laid over me as I drifted off into my dreams.

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 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please keep sending me reviews. I love getting to discuss things with my readers and getting to know you all! I am very excited about the next chapter to come.**

 **I have had many of you PM and ask me about my book. If you are interested, please let me know in a review, and I will send you the details to check it out. For those who have gone and purchased it already, thank you so much! I appreciate your support more than you know. :)**


	19. Heartstrings Into Infinity

I woke up slightly confused at where I was until I realized that I must have fallen asleep on the sofa. I sat up slowly, and when I looked over at Aro's desk, where I expected him to be, I did not see him but someone else. He smiled a sad sort of smile when our eyes met. "Good morning. You may not remember me."

"It's Marcus, right?"

"Perhaps then you do. Did you sleep well?"

I wrapped the blanket closer around me before replying. If anyone, I had expected Demetri to be there when I woke like he usually was if Aro was not present. I knew nothing about the vampire before me now except for what had happened when Aro brought me to him over a week ago. There was a sort of heaviness around him that made me a little uneasy but not out of fear. I worried more about the conversation that lied ahead.

"I guess." I looked over towards the door then back at Marcus. "Where's Aro?"

"He is currently meeting with the guard. He was afraid of leaving you alone should you wake up. He did not want you to be confused if you did."

"Right. He was going to introduce me to them today, the others I haven't met. I hope he doesn't plan to make it into some formal event. What's he talking to them about?"

Marcus stood from where he was sitting and made his way over to me. He sat beside me on the sofa and as he came closer, I noticed how young he looked. For being one of the heads of such a powerful coven of vampires, this was something I didn't expect. While I knew Aro was young when he had been changed, he was still a good seven or eight years older than I was. Marcus, on the other hand, could have still been in his teens.

"He is telling them to be on their best behavior."

Sighing, I pulled my knees up to my chest. "He is making it formal."

"Aro has a way of etiquette and enjoying the finer things. Formalities are a part of his being."

I thought back to when I had first met Marcus. He had been seated at a beautiful piano playing a tune that was so bittersweet yet captivating. It was hard telling how long Aro would be, and it would not hurt to know more about Marcus as well. Maybe he would let me in on a few things. I could only try, so I said, "By the way, your playing the other day, it was really good."

"Yes. I often played that piece for the one I loved."

"He told me what happened. I'm sorry."

"Yet I cannot expect you to understand. When Didyme was murdered, a part of my soul was murdered with her, if we can be seen as having souls. Perhaps we are only soulless monsters in the end."

"You don't know that," I said shaking my head. "After all, what is a soul?"

Our eyes made contact again, and while I could tell the weight still weighed heavy on him, he smiled again, soft but true. "You are right."

I watched as he once again looked away, his eyes staring off expressionless at something in the distance. This must have been what Aro had meant when he mentioned how Didyme's death affected Marcus the day he brought me up to the tower. Was it possible to love that strongly?

"Marcus," I said, trying for a change in subject, "Maybe you can tell me more about the guard before I meet them. I really only know about Demetri and Renata though I've spent time with Chelsea and have talked to Corin. It would be nice to know a little before I see the others for the first time. I don't want to seem inconsiderate or rude."

"There is no chance of that. They will accept you for who you are as Aro's mate."

"Still, if I knew a little more about them, that would be helpful."

"You may feel inclined to ask them yourself," he answered quite effectively ending that topic.

"Okay, then maybe you can tell me more about you."

He turned back to me and sighed. "What would you like to know?"

"First you could tell me how old you are."

"I am a few decades older than Aro, but we do not keep track of time as we once used to. However, I was changed at the same age you are now."

Nodding, I pressed on a little further. At least I was getting some information out of him now. "Could you tell me about that? That whole process."

"You have not asked Aro?" I shook my head in response, so he continued, "You should discuss that with him as he will be the one to initiate it."

"Maybe, but I also don't want him to think that I'm eager to have it done either. I'm not. I mean, immortality, it seems like such a great thing. I guess most humans would go out of their way to obtain it. Perhaps I would, too, but only out of a lame fear of what happens once one dies. Thinking about it now, spending an eternity right here, I don't think that sounds like a good way to live."

Marcus's voice was very quiet, barely audible when he spoke, but I heard it anyway. It was distraught and distant like the words were too difficult to say. "It only is not when you are alone." It was then that he took my hand, a gesture that I would not have welcomed from Aro at the time. However, when Marcus held my hand in his, I felt no discomfort, only a pressing need for companionship and understanding. "You are not alone. Your bond with Aro has the potential to grow and glow, and when you have become like us, it will only blossom. You deny yourself now, but it could be great if you accepted what is. The color is only dark because you choose for it to be, but one day it will be as gold as the sun."

When he let go of my hand, I replied, "You talk like you can see colored ribbons between us or something."

"They are not ribbons perse, but a cord nonetheless. I am able to read the bonds between people. That is how I knew when you ran into my arms as a child that you were Aro's mate."

I thought back to when Aro and I had talked about that day, and it had never clearly made sense on how he knew when I was still practically a toddler that he loved me. Besides a strange sense of pedophilia which seemed very unlikely, I understood something else had told him. He kept saying it was something vampires just knew and that I would know it, too, when I was like them, but this is also what he meant. Had it not been for Marcus and I had not been such a stupid child, Aro may have never known I existed in the first place.

"Are you like Demetri? Can you read bonds from far away?"

"No, but in your case, Aro had been close by. I saw the interweaving of the cords there. It was a surprise to both of us."

"I suppose you wouldn't tell me about Aro's gift, would you?"

"He has not told you?"

I was surprised by the slight shock in his voice, but I did not comment on it. "Not yet. I've asked, but he tends to change the subject or go around it."

Marcus hummed, and I watched him carefully. "He is not always wise."

"What do you mean?"

"You must not despise him when you know. That is all I will say. Aro believes he acts for the best, but love makes fools of us all." He turned to face the door then before saying, "It seems Aro has returned. We will meet again soon."

It was when he stood that the door opened, Aro gracefully walked in with a light grin on his face. Both Marcus and Aro exchanged quick words before Aro came to me. "Would you like to meet them now, _mia amore_? They are waiting."

"Let me change first, and then, sure." I stood up, made my way to the other room and prepared myself to meet the rest of the Volturi coven.

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 **A/N: I know I have been giving daily updates and it's all thanks to the incredible reviews I have been receiving, so thank you! However, I am not sure if I will be able to update tomorrow, and I know I will not be able to update this weekend. The feature film I am working on starts filming Saturday, and I will be on set all day, both Saturday and Sunday. We're talking 10am (which is a late call time I might add) to 10 or 11pm. Therefore, I will try to post one more time before then, but no promises.**

 **This chapter was not on my outline but my brain wanted to write it, so it got written. I hope it was still enjoyable and you all picked up a few more little details because they were in there.**

 **Title comes from the quote, "Those we love and lose are always connected by heartstrings into infinity," by Terri Guillemets. I thought it was fitting since this chapter is her introduction to Marcus and his gift.**


	20. Grief is the Price We Pay for Love

Walking with Aro down the hall, I found that my nerves were on fire. Why was I so concerned about meeting the rest of the guard? The ones I had already met seemed nice enough, and Marcus had said that the others would accept me. Even still, none of that comforted me.

We reached the reception area that Chelsea had brought me into the first day I came, the area I had not been into since. As we walked through to the next room, I saw Caterina sitting at the desk, and I smiled softly at her. She smiled back and greeted us before returning to whatever work she was doing.

It was in that next room when we entered that Aro stopped and turned to me. "There is no need to be nervous, my love. They are excited to meet you. All except Caius unfortunately, but do not let that deter you. It is how he is."

"I'm not nervous," I told him, but we both knew I was lying.

I watched him walk over to the wall on our right where he slid back the wood paneling where another door appeared. He opened it and we went inside to a small antechamber before going through the next door into a grand circular room.

Looking around, the first thing I noticed was a strange recess in the floor that almost looked like the drain one would see on a sidewalk or road. I had no idea why it was there, and frankly, there were other more interesting things that caught my eye. The floor held shadows.

I looked over and I saw the windows were like slits in the walls that let in tinted light from the morning sun casting their reflection on the dark stone. I did wonder about that. The times I had seen Demetri and Chelsea in the past, there had always been clouds in the sky. After all, vampires would die if they touched sunlight. Maybe the tint in the windows is what protected them. I planned to ask Aro later but instead, he walked ahead, right through the source of light and immediately I saw his face shimmer where the light touched it as if he had been made of diamonds.

I blinked a couple of times trying to figure out if what I saw was real or simply another part of my imagination or some sort of strange vision, but when he held out his hand for me to take, the exact same thing happened again as it touched the light. I sucked in a breath before peering up at him. He sighed as I refused his offer and made my way beside him.

In front of me were three wooden chairs on a raised platform that could easily pass for thrones. Marcus sat in the one that was to the left of where I was facing, and another vampire sat on the right. I assumed this to be Caius. I did not expect him to be so old, but he was at least 15 years or so older than Aro by appearance only. When it came to exact age, one could never tell with a vampire. His eyes alone burnt holes into my skin, and I had to look away.

To his right were even more vampires of which I rightly assumed to be the guard. A few I knew already, and Renata danced over to my side and took my arm in hers. Aro smiled at the gesture before turning to the others and addressing them. "My friends, some of you have already had the pleasure of meeting her, but for those of you who have not, I introduce to you Liliana."

Hearing my full name, I softly corrected him. "Lia."

"Of course, she prefers Lia." He turned back to me then. "Come."

We moved towards the guard, Aro in front of me and Renata at my side as Aro brought me to them one by one. "You have already met Demetri, Felix, Corin, and Chelsea," he began. He then pointed out the vampire at Chelsea's side. "This here is Afton, Chelsea's mate." Afton inclined his head before we moved on.

The next in line was a rather large vampire, much like Felix. Aro called him Santiago, and I found him to be slightly more intimidating than Felix was. I attributed this to the fact that I had seen Felix before with Demetri a few times and therefore was accustomed to his somewhat playful nature.

It was the two vampires next to Santiago that surprised me the most. Next to him, they looked like dolls. Easily the youngest in the coven by appearance with no doubt that they were barely in their teens if at all when they had been changed. Aro introduced them as Alec and Jane. While Alec bowed, Jane gave a small curtsy, although her eyes wandered over me. They stared hard and deep and reminded me of the look I had received from Caius moments before. The same look he was probably giving me now behind my back. I would ask Aro about them later.

When that was through, Aro said to me, "There are others, but the ones you see here are the members of the elite guard, and they remain here in Volterra unless the need arises for them to part." He turned back around to face Caius, and I followed. "Now, let me properly introduce you to Caius."

When I glanced back up at him, Caius scowled. "I know who she is, and you already have my thoughts on the matter."

"My dear Caius, you are more impatient than I."

"She is still a liability, Aro. If something were to happen-"

"Nothing will happen," Aro said effectively cutting him off.

Caius stood from his seat and made his way toward us. He stopped in front of me, and I felt Renata's grip on my arm tighten. My heart, against my will sped up, though Renata never used her gift and Aro made no move to stop Caius from whatever he had planned. "Humanity is pointless. Why waste the time?"

He stepped past us, and I turned around to watch him as he began to leave the room. Before I knew what I was saying, it was already out. "Weren't you once human?"

If his burgundy orbs could slice through one like a knife, I would have been dead on the spot. With in inhuman abruptness, he turned again, and the door slammed behind him as he stormed out. I let out a breath I did not realize I had been holding and looked up to see Aro shake his head. "I don't think he likes me very much."

"I did warn you not to push him," Aro replied. "But he does incline towards irritability when he's thirsty." After his words, I noticed Renata take her hand and place it on his. Aro looked down at her warmly as she did so, and I could see what he had meant when he said he treated her more like a daughter than a member of his guard.

"Yes, of course," he said to her. Her touch must have been a reminder of something for him. He looked at me again before saying, "We should be getting you back to my quarters. Heidi, the only member of the elite guard you have yet to meet will be arriving sometime soon. You will become acquainted with her later, I am sure."

Aro waved over Demetri. "Take Lia back downstairs for now. We will set one aside."

I was curious as to what Aro meant, but I followed Demetri closely as we exited the room and made our way back to the elevator where we descended quietly. It was when we reached the room that I decided to bring it up, the urge overtaking me having a vague idea of what it could have meant. "Demetri?"

"Yes?"

"What did Aro mean when he said they would sit one aside?"

"I think even you're intelligent enough to figure that one out. He'll be down soon."

He left me in the room alone, and I seriously pondered about leaving then. After all, the door was not locked. I was unguarded. However, a dark feeling kept me from doing so. Corin told me there could be accidents if they smelled my blood, and what I understood is that they were preparing for a meal, a meal I definitely did not want to be apart of. That was why Aro sent me here to keep me away from the potential danger.

It was the one thing however, that seemed so real yet not real at all to me. Of course vampires drank blood, but trying to actually imagine people being drained of blood only a few floors above me made me sick to my stomach. I already knew Aro was a murderer. What more were a few extra humans to him?

There was of course my phone which I knew Aro still kept in his desk. The only problem with this scenario was that my phone had not been shut off when I used it last and the battery was more than likely dead. The drawer it was in was also locked. While I could attempt to break it open, should I do so, Aro would know and it would ruin everything. I decided to curl up in a chair and wait for him to return.

About half an hour after Demetri had escorted me back, the door opened again and Aro entered, his eyes a brilliant, milky scarlet rather than the tinted maroon I had grown accustomed to. "I hope you were not alone for too long."

"How many did you kill?"

Our eyes met, and his frowned. "Can you hate me for being what I am? You, too, will soon feed as we do."

"Do you value it at all, human life?"

"I value yours."

"What Caius said, about humanity being pointless, do you believe that as well? Chelsea once told me that you despise humans for constantly repeating their mistakes, but how else do we improve? How else do we learn? Even you've made your own share of mistakes. Any life, human or not, isn't pointless and it certainly doesn't deserve to be treated with contempt. I don't care what you all believe. You're not monsters. At least, you don't have to be."

"You remind me of my dear friend, Carlisle. He believed much the same."

"You've mentioned him before, that he used to live here. I bet he and Caius didn't get along at all, did they?"

Aro's expression drew back in what I could tell was a fond memory. "They had their differences, but there was still great respect."

Silently, I nodded. Aro stepped over to his desk and sat, removing the bound journal he was always writing in from a drawer. I watched as he released the stopper from the bottle of ink he planned to use and grabbed a quill to make his notes for the morning.

"Aro?"

"Yes?"

"About Caius, he doesn't get to choose when I'm changed."

"And he is aware of this."

"But I don't really get to choose either."

Upon my statement, Aro paused in what he was doing and sent his gaze towards mine. "No, I suppose you do not, but I am giving you the chance for now. I wonder, what is it that is so daunting about accepting my proposal. Is it only your grandparents or is there more?"

"I thought I was an easy read."

"I would like you to tell me."

"Maybe I could fall in love with you one day," I began.

"There is no maybe. You will. You said that you felt it, that it was something you knew."

My mind flashed back to right after we had met, but I was still reluctant. "I did say that, but it could be a lot easier if you gave me something, too. I'm giving you my whole life when you change me. I'm already being forced to be bound by your laws. I haven't talked to my mom in over a week. I haven't been outside in that amount of time either. Demetri and Chelsea go out all the time to do who knows what. Why can't I go with them? Get some fresh air, talk to people, maybe see my parents before this all happens?"

"Lia, that just is not possible."

"But you can make it possible!" I did not mean to shout it at him, but I had.

"If I made an exception for you, I would have to make an exception for everyone."

"If you make an exception for anyone, it should be me. You love me, don't you? I'm supposed to be your mate or something, aren't I? That doesn't seem to matter as much to you as your laws."

"Lia-"

"Don't. You didn't let me say goodbye to my grandparents, and now you're not even going to let me say goodbye to my parents or my best friend. Give me that. Give me something!"

I could tell Aro was pained when he stood and came beside me. Once more, he reached out, and I shunned him. He was distraught, but so was I. His sigh however, even left me feeling slightly heartbroken and I hated it. "Tomorrow," he stated grudgingly, "while I am busy attending to other matters, you may walk around the building if you so choose. All I ask is that you do not leave the second wing. This is what I can grant you for now."

"I can walk around alone, unaccompanied?"

"You have met the guard. You should be safe around them now. As far as Heidi, I am not concerned. She is able to control herself better than many of us."

"I guess that's something."

"You wanted this compromise, so I am giving it to you. Do not make me regret what I have decided."

Aro was gone again and back to his desk in the blink of an eye, no sound to match his movement except a soft wisp of air. He was giving me exactly what I needed. The last thing was to figure out how to get around Demetri, a task that would be no easy feat.

* * *

 **A/N: Last update before the weekend.**

 **Title is from the quote, "So it's true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love," from _Brushstrokes of a Gadfly._ I'm too tired to think of something better. Good night! And please review! I'll reply when I have the chance.**


	21. Even Hell Has Its Flames

Walking around the palace alone was no easy feat either. It was amazing how many times I ended up getting lost in the underground levels. Above ground, I found my way easily enough, but it was where the vampires kept themselves that had crazy twists and turns. At one point, I even found a secret passage that led me straight down into a sewer with no opening at the end except a manhole that would be impossible to reach without some sort of ladder that was not supplied. It was Demetri that met me down there that day and asked what I was up to. All I could muster is that I was exploring, and it wasn't a lie. I only needed to learn the layouts of this place to find an exit when the moment arose.

It was that incident though that let me know, even if I was free to wander, Demetri was still keeping an eye on my every move. His tracking ability was proving quite nettlesome. I knew it was already going to be nearly impossible to get away with his ability in the first place, but now, I didn't even know if I stood a chance. Aro promised me freedom inside the walls of the palace within the second wing, yet he was still spying on me either way meaning he really did not trust me. Concerns aside, if he had any at all, his whole persona was about control.

One afternoon exploring led me to the one place I had no desire to ever go. Only a floor down and a few turns away was another large room and the door stood wide open. When I walked past it, I turned to look inside only to see Caius examining a slide through a brass microscope. When I stopped, his eyes moved up and met mine. A smirk crossed his face and he beckoned me inside. I seriously thought about walking away, but I also didn't know if that would be the best idea seeing how he was only the other day when we first met. He already hated me.

"Were you curious to what I was doing," he asked leering at me.

I shrugged. "Not really. I was only walking around, and the door was open."

"Yes, Aro did mention he had given you permission to do so without an escort. A silly idea if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't."

"You are lucky you are Aro's mate or I would have ripped out your tongue."

With a slight roll of my eyes, I replied, "Yeah, lucky me."

Caius was curious at this remark, and I made substantial note of it in my mind. "You do not get along?"

"It's complicated."

"Is that so?"

He made move back toward the microscope and after another scan, wrote down something on a piece of parchment paper that was lying next to him. Like Aro, he also decided to use quill and ink. He prepared another sample on a new slide before changing out the previous then once again waved his hand for me to join him. I obliged and stood next to him as he viewed through the lens again.

"Take a look," Caius told me before raising up and stepping back.

Sighing, I did as I was told and gazed through the microscope. I had no idea what I was viewing. All I saw were purple and pink squiggly lines that seemed to form some sort of pattern. When I peered back up at him, I asked, "What is it?"

"Tissue from a human lung."

"Oh. I didn't realize it was possible to order organ tissue specimens without certain qualifications."

"Why order tissue specimens when I can create my own?"

"What do you mean?"

"This sample here came from a human male of about 30 years old. His blood wasn't as savory as others I've tasted, but his organs were in almost pristine condition minus a slight tear in the tissue you were just viewing."

I stepped away from the microscope and Caius after hearing that, somewhat disgusted with the whole ordeal. "You keep the bodies?"

"Do you remember when we met, the grand hall you were in? Most are disposed of below."

"That drain in the floor?"

"It is convenient," Caius added closing the gap between us. "Then there are some humans that we decide to keep for research and study."

"So, you dissect them once you've fed?"

"This one here, I dissected alive."

Now I really felt like I was going to throw up, so I turned and walked towards the door to exit the room, but Caius appeared in front of me blocking my way. I took a deep breath to keep myself calm and waited for him to move.

"Does it disturb you?"

"As if you hadn't figured out that I was trying to leave the room until you blocked the doorway," I replied with frustration.

Caius stepped aside, and I went past him only to see Aro standing there as if he had been coming down the hall to meet us. He smiled gently at me, but instead of acknowledging it at all, I turned and began to start down the hall. It was only a moment later that I felt his hand on my arm stopping me. I shrugged out of his grip, and when I turned around, the smile that had been there was gone and replaced with an expression of hurt and what felt like betrayal. His mannerisms after were strange, and without saying a word, he left me standing there confused by his action.

Whatever had just happened, I somehow felt that it was my fault and that I should feel guilty for it. The thing was, I hadn't said a word to Aro to cause that reaction, yet it had happened. Was he upset that I had walked away from him. Was that really such a bad thing? I wanted to get away from Caius, although I wasn't too keen on being close to Aro either, but he was a much better companion than the vampire that liked to dissect people alive. Did Aro ever participate in that? I decided never to ask, but certainly, he didn't appear the type.

Deciding to head back to Aro's chambers, I made my way to the elevator and up to the next floor. When I reached the door, I opened it and saw Aro inside sitting at his desk writing again. He did not look up as I entered and closed the door behind me, so I went over to him. Going behind the desk, I stopped beside him and watched him write in a language that I now understood to be Greek. He was very quiet and very focused.

Softly, I said, "Are you angry with me?"

There was a pause as his hand stopped moving, and he stared at the paper before him. "I am not angry, no."

The mood swing happened so quickly that it threw me off guard as he turned to face me, the smile back on his face. His voice was cheerier and lighter than I had heard it in a while, and I could tell something wasn't right.

"It's just that you left so suddenly. You were there and then you were gone."

"You must forgive me, my love. I had Demetri track your location as you had not yet returned. I do still worry about you roaming the halls alone. When he told me you were with Caius, I thought to check on you there to make sure my brother was not causing you any distress. I was relieved you were safe, but you appeared angry at finding me there, so I thought to leave you before causing harm."

I knew it was only another white lie on his end. Demetri had been tracking me the entire time. Maybe Aro was worried about me being with Caius, but if he really had thought to leave me, why did he follow me and reach for me and then have the look he did? That part didn't add up. Either way, he was fine now, so I decided not to push it and nodded.

"I wasn't angry with you for being there. I wasn't so thrilled that you tried to stop me from leaving, but I didn't want to be anywhere near that monster, and yes, I think he officially qualifies for that classification."

"He does have a way with his words, but he won't hurt you."

"It's not that. You treat humans like we're animals or something. You pick one out so you can torture just for research? Or maybe you do it for fun. I don't know, but it's disgusting and it's wrong."

"Ah, Caius told you of his little hobby, didn't he? I won't say I approve, but-"

"You have no respect or value for human life," I said effectively cutting him off. "None except mine. We've had that conversation already."

"I do not wish to argue with you, Lia, but it is what it is. I do not control the actions Caius takes."

I sighed. "You're right, you don't. I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting that."

When Aro opened the drawer in the desk where my phone was located, I watched in surprise as he took it out and offered it to me. I stared at it for a second before looking at him questioning his motive.

"You were wanting to speak with your mother, weren't you? Go ahead and call. You may inform her that your travels are going well."

"But I'm not traveling."

"Yet she believes you are."

"She'll want details."

"Then I will give you a personal tour of some of the palace where you can tell her about the art you have seen. There are one or two galleries that you have yet to view."

I stepped towards him and took the phone in my hand. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's dead."

"Objects cannot die," Aro replied almost childlike in his confusion.

"I mean the power is gone. It needs charged. You locked it up before while it was still on."

"I see. Then I will send Chelsea to buy you a new one."

Shaking my head, I told him, "She doesn't need to buy me a new one. I need the charger. If I have that and an electrical outlet with a power source, I can charge it myself. The charger for it is still at the house. I could go get it then come back."

"You know that isn't an option. I will send Demetri for it."

"Do you have any idea how long it might take him to find it? I don't even know where I put it. At least let me go with him. While I'm there, I can grab some more of my clothes and things, and I could tell my mom I'm back in Volterra for a bit rather than making stuff up."

"Is there a problem with Caterina taking your clothes to be laundered? Surely, you don't need to bring any more, and it would be best if no one knew you were still in Volterra. It is easier if they believe you to be traveling."

"That's only an excuse so no one realizes that you have me locked away in here." At this statement Aro stood and moved away from me, and I knew he was irritated at hearing me say that I was locked away once again, but I continued on. "And about the clothes thing. Look, I'm a girl. Ask Chelsea or even Heidi. They'll tell you that we don't exactly like wearing the same outfits week after week."

"That is a simple fix. I will have new clothes bought for you."

"You are really missing the point here," I said growing irritated myself. "Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"Apparently you do," Aro replied facing me again.

"I just want some fresh air, to get out of this place if even for a few minutes. And no, I don't mean the tower. That's still in the confines of this building. I've been walking around in here for two weeks now. I'm bored, and I'm suffocating."

As before, the room went silent as Aro gave thought to what I had said. Before I realized what was happening, Aro was beside me and he had my hand in his. I looked up at him questioningly. "What?"

He released my hand, and as he did so, brought his hand up to touch my hair. He twirled a small section through his fingers, his eyes focused and his mouth thin. When he dropped it, he said, "I will send Demetri out with you tonight to go by the house to gather what you need for the phone. You may pick up anything else you would like to bring back with you while you are there. Maybe the fresh air will help settle your mind."

"Thank you."

That night, Demetri and I departed the city hall together through a back exit. The streets were very quiet, so I asked him what time it was. He told me it was after midnight so most people were asleep. Aro's way of making sure that there was less of a chance of me being recognized.

It did not take long to get to the house, and when we did, Demetri unlocked the door and we went inside. Everything was exactly as I had left it the morning I made the discovery that vampires were real. I guess Aro hadn't started on "dealing" with what I was left just yet.

Demetri followed me into the back bedroom that I had been staying in so I could find my charger. As I told Aro, it would have taken a while for Demetri to find it since it had fallen between the bed and the wall when I unplugged it before. I reached back to get it, but the space was too small.

"Can you move the bed," I asked him. "The charger fell behind it."

With effortless ease, Demetri moved the bed away from the wall, and I grabbed the charger from where it was now lying on the floor. "Got it."

He moved the bed back into place with a nod. "Do you want to take anything else while you're here?"

I sat down on the bed and sighed. "I don't know. It feels strange being back in this house. In a few days, it'll be an entire month that's passed. That sounds so unreal."

"A month is a very short period of time."

"To a vampire maybe. It can be much longer for a human."

"The period of time a month covers does not change based on whether one is a vampire or a human. It still consists roughly of 720 hours."

"You're making it feel longer than it already did. I know time doesn't speed up or slow down based on being a vampire or human. It's the sense of time that can change. Humans don't live for millennia or even centuries for that matter. Our average lifespan is around 80 years give or take depending on where you live in the world, so while a month may feel short to someone who has lived over 1000 years, it could feel like it's dragging on to someone who may not even reach 100."

"Then it is a good thing that you will."

"Not helping," I said while giving him a look.

"I am only stating a fact."

Demetri stood there motionless as a statue much like the others often did. I began to accept it purely as a vampire thing after a while, but it didn't make it any less eerie. I stood from the bed and went to look out the window. The streets were still empty and the only light came from the post off the walk.

"Demetri, what is it like?"

He turned and walked towards me stopping on the other side of the sill. "What is what like?"

"The change. I asked Marcus, but he wouldn't tell me. He told me to ask Aro, but I don't want to excite him too much about it. Still though, I'm curious. Is it instantaneous or does it take time? Does it hurt at all? What exactly happens?"

"It is a long process, a period of time that feels like weeks but only lasts a few days. None of us are really sure what happens. There was a vampire who had a theory. I believe Aro spoke of him to you, a medical practitioner that goes by Carlisle."

"Yeah, Aro said he lived in Volterra for a while. What was his theory?"

"He hypothesized that the cells of the body go through a regenerative process of constantly dying and renewing themselves as they fight the venom that goes through the bloodstream. The venom being much more powerful will eventually win out and when it does, it coats all the tissues of the body with a hardened substance that is generated when the cells give birth a final time.

"Because the vessels and arteries become so stiff, the blood is unable to reach the heart and eventually it begins to die. One may experience what you refer to as a heart attack that then leads to sudden cardiac arrest and the organ stops beating altogether. When this happens, the rest of the body's organs shut down and the human dies.

"With the venom still in the system, it reaches the brain and jumpstarts it back to life, in the process, causing one to potentially lose memories from their human life. The venom acts as a life force to keep the brain functioning though the rest of our vital organs have failed. This of course is only a biological standpoint on what occurs. It does not explain our immortality which is of a supernatural component. After all, one may remove our head from our bodies but we cannot die until our bodies are consumed in fire."

"Like a purification ritual," I whispered more to myself than him.

"We are creatures of darkness after all. Even Hell has its flames."

"Then vampires are damned?"

Demetri shrugged. "Carlisle believed so."

"That doesn't seem right. Maybe you're simply in what they call a state of limbo, in between the two dimensions since you're trapped eternally here on Earth. Maybe your soul is only trying to find its way home, the struggle of keeping your humanity while also being bound to a thirst for blood. Aro once asked me if I could hate him for what he was. I suppose I can only hate the choices he makes. Maybe that's what determines it."

"What does?"

"Vampires survive on blood. There's no alternative way around that, but humans kill animals for food all the time. Most don't even think about it. I imagine your mind works the same way. You said that the change can cause loss of human memories, right?"

"For many, yes."

"What if that loss is also what comes into play with the brain chemistry. What if that's the thing that causes you to only see humans as a food source or as a form of entertainment in Caius's case. You don't think about it, just like most humans didn't think about vegetarianism until very recent years. While it was probably around even when you were human, it was still rare. Maybe it's something that you don't have control over, so you have to find other ways to keep your humanity intact. You have to make the conscious choice to do so. That's what determines where your soul goes if such a thing ever existed in the first place."

"Now you're thinking like a philosopher. If I remember correctly, someone once told me they had no interest in the field," Demetri said with a slight grin.

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't say I had no interest. I said I didn't have much interest. There's a difference."

"We should be heading back. Aro will be expecting you soon."

"Right," I said looking around the room once more. "Actually, there is one thing I want to bring with me."

"What is that?"

"My laptop. It has games on it, and while Aro loves handwritten notes, I much prefer typing because unlike vampires, humans still get hand cramps."

"Very well. Where is it?"

I made my way to the dresser and opened the bottom drawer where my laptop sat in its case with the power cord wrapped around it. "Right here." I stood up and placed it on the bed before going to the closet. "I guess it also wouldn't hurt to grab a few more changes of clothes. You really didn't bring much for an extended stay."

Pulling out a few more shirts pairs of pants and clean undergarments, I threw them on the bed before reaching under it and grabbing my suitcase. I piled them in along with my laptop and phone charger before zipping it up. The last thing I did was go back to my dresser and grab a particular box of personal items to which Demetri gave me a confused look on.

As I was putting them into the front pocket of my suitcase, Demetri asked, "What are those?"

"You see, human women go through this thing every month called a menstrual cycle-"

"You don't need to explain any further."

I laughed. Even vampire males had strange feelings towards it. Although, it did bring up a bit of curiosity on my end. I knew I would be due to start very soon since my cycle was generally longer than most at 32 days on average, but I hadn't thought about it until now. It would definitely be easier to talk to Demetri than Aro about this stuff, so I dared ask. "By the way, is that weird for you or do you know? I know with blood, I was told there could be accidents, but it's different isn't it?"

Demetri made a bit of a face before answering. I could tell he was just as uncomfortable with the topic as I was. "Unlike the others, Chelsea, Heidi and I work closely among humans. That blood is mixed with other tissues and therefore has no appeal to us. The smell is not appetizing, but it is there."

"Good thing tampons collect it inside the body instead of out or otherwise that would be extremely awkward."

"It is a normal human function, nothing to be, as you say, awkward about."

"Males have always been aversive to the topic though."

"Then you should know back where I was born, in Greece, they used the blood as a kind of fertilizer for the soil during ancient times."

"I think I would have been fine not knowing that information."

Demetri gave a playful smirk. "You were the one who brought it up."

"Yes, but only because you were the one who asked what was in the box," I countered.

"So I did. Do you have everything now?"

"I guess so."

Demetri grabbed my suitcase for me, and we left the room and headed back through the house. I took a good look around before we left knowing that the chances of me seeing that place again were very slim. We stepped outside and Demetri closed the front door behind us.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize that it's been a while again. This film is taking up all my time. I periodically update my profile with what's going on in case you're curious as to why it's been some time since you've seen an update. This is the longest chapter yet simply because I tortured you all with the wait. I hope you enjoy it. Please review, and share your thoughts.**


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